


dusk

by originella



Series: Dusk Series [1]
Category: Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Attempted Murder, Brutal Murder, Character Turned Into Vampire, F/M, Murder, Original Character(s), Original Slash, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, POV Original Character, POV Original Female Character, Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Past Sexual Abuse, Psychosis, Vampire Turning, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-10
Updated: 2019-10-10
Packaged: 2020-12-07 17:17:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 12
Words: 86,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20979530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/originella/pseuds/originella
Summary: Elizabeth Partridge is the daughter of the fire chief of Forks, Washington. When she decides to move to Forks at seventeen, she never knew what could happen. While hiking, she is attacked by a rogue vampire, and Carlisle rushes to save her life. Blessed with weather and psychic telekinesis, she soon meets a Nomad, Alexander, who has chronokinesis - can these two vamps find love?





	1. Dust in the Wind

Forks—what an abysmal name for such a small town. If it had been up to me, I would never have forced myself to come here, but it was not up to me. Well, correction, it was; wholly. I knew that given my mother’s new boyfriends’ job as a B-movie actor, that she would want to go around travelling with him. He was nice enough, Andy was—he and my mother had all but signed the paperwork to become domestic partners, but that’s difficult when you don’t have a permanent address.

My father was a fireman in Forks—the chief, if you wanted to get technical about it—and had lived there with my mom before we ran off when I was barely two. They’d never married; they’d gotten engaged when she got pregnant with me, but it all came crashing down when it was revealed that she suffered from postpartum depression. It momentarily turned into psychosis, and she nearly drowned me once in the bathtub when she hadn’t seen a way out from living in a small town with my father.

One day, just one and a half months after my second birthday—when Dad was off fighting fires—my mother, who had been in therapy for the past year and had gotten some ‘halfway-decent’ medication, had packed our bags and drove. She had some family money, and put down a deposit on an apartment in Sherman Oaks, California—just forty-five minutes north of Los Angeles—and we drove all the way down there. Dad was miserable but, since it was only the 1990’s, cell phones weren’t as common-place as they were today and my mother didn’t give him our telephone number. With no forwarding address, and just a handful of cryptic letters she sent him for a few years after that, Dad didn’t know what had become of us.

The heat didn’t do anything for my skin—in fact, I was perpetually pale from the get-go. It wasn’t until the summer of 2006 that I knew that I needed a change. Despite my begs and pleas to get out of there, I would never admit to liking Forks—at least, not directly towards my mother. I complained to the few friends I’d made who, even though I’d gone to elementary and half of middle school with them, they’d hadn’t fully accepted me. I was just the weird girl from a small town in Washington State who wasn’t tan and blonde. My eyes were violet and my hair was black, and—with my skin tone—I looked like some rip-off of Elizabeth Taylor, and _not_ an attractive one.

Probably why my mother gave me the name she did; she and Dad had picked ‘Richard’ for a boy and ‘Elizabeth’ for a girl—hey, they had a thing for old Hollywood stars, and Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor topped their lists, followed by Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh for a close second. When I presented myself at the tail end of July in 1994, I was named Elizabeth Vivien Partridge, although my father’s parents were not fond of my choice of middle name—my grandmother, Olga, wanted me to be named somewhat after her, and don’t get me started on the fact that they wanted my parents to be married. I barely knew either of them, however, as they’d passed away when I was living in California.

I always had a passion for hiking and would do so around my many trails on my own starting from about fourteen. The areas were beautiful—if you liked a pallet of red and brown—and I found it was such a horrid pallet that I frequently would put my shades on and just run through it. Finally, Mom met Andy and was spending all her time with him, and, one summer—the summer I turned fifteen—when Mom said that she missed him as he was in Milan shooting, a plan began to formulate in my mind. I sat on this plan for another year and a half, waiting for just the right moment. When I was about to begin my senior year of high school, however, just months before my seventeenth birthday, I knew that it was time to act.

“Mom, do you miss Andy?” I asked her casually as I proceeded to put some dishes on to wash inside our dishwasher.

“Yes,” she replied wistfully. “He’s in Paris now, and soon he’ll be in Tuscany to wrap up his shoot on this latest monster movie...”

I nodded, sympathetic. Although I’d never been involved with any boy of merit, I often wondered what it would be like to be so consumed with love. “Well, then, why don’t you surprise him?”

“Honey, and leave you?” she asked, pushing her newspaper aside and kissing my cheek. “I couldn’t do that...”

“Mom?”

“Yeah, honey?”

I sighed then, knowing it was time to tell the truth. “I don’t hate Forks as much as you originally believed,” I said quickly. “I _love_ it... The name is kind of stupid once you think about it, but I want...” I sighed, knowing how to work this. “I want you to go and travel around with Andy on his shoots. I _know_ he wants you there, and I’ve been talking to Dad and I think I should go live with him so you can go be with Andy.”

Her mouth fell open. “Elizabeth, I...”

“You only call me that when you’re upset,” I say quickly. “You know I can’t stand the formality of that name.”

“S-sorry, Beth, really,” she says quickly. “But, are you sure?”

I nod. “Yes. I know that you miss Andy and I think we should be where we both _need_ to be, you know?” I ask.

She nods. “Of course. If you’re positive...”

“I am. Really.”

“I’ll make the arrangements, then,” she promises.

Within weeks of me completing my junior year of high school, I have a new fall and winter wardrobe, as well as a plane ticket booked for Seattle, since it is one of the closer airports. I must take a smaller plane from SeaTac to Port Angeles, which is the closest, due to Forks’ airport being too small to accommodate such a trip. I have my bags—and my room—packed the night before, and I have everything packed except my big furniture, including my computer desk and bed frame, which must be left behind. Mom drives me to the airport, telling me repeatedly to keep in touch with her, and I promise to do so. She is flying out to Tuscany the following day, so I urge her to get some sleep between now and then and she assures me that she will. I give her a look—my mother is only thirty-six but looks much younger, and her given name Rosemary Helena Reece has always been perfect for her, to say the least. She is with me to check-in, and says goodbye to me at security, kissing me repeatedly and telling me how much she loves me. She waves me off as I go through the line, and, quite soon, it is my turn to be seen; with one final wave, she disappears into the crowd of other well-wishers.

I hand over my Driver’s License—knowing Dad will want me to get a Washington State issued one as soon as possible—and boarding pass. It is immediately stamped after a moment of scrutiny, and I’m permitted to walk through the metal detector and put my shoes back on. Quickly gathering my carry-on items in its bag—some snacks for the plane, a few books, my phone and a pair of headphones to listen to music—I check my boarding pass again as I slip the bag onto my shoulder. The gate I’m looking for is G6, and I soon find the proper direction for it as I make my way through the crowds of people. I have a while to wait before boarding so I make my way to a coffee kiosk and order a sugary blended drink to keep my energy up, as I peer around the place. Finding a space by the window, I thumb through my bag and remove _Pride and Prejudice_, my favorite of all Austen stories, my worn paperback nearly threadbare from getting it as a gift on my eleventh birthday, along with every other Austen book.

“Great reading,” says a voice like bells and, as I raise my eyes, make eye contact with a rather striking young couple. “I like Austen, too, but my favorite is _Wuthering Heights_. I hope you’ve read that one.”

I nod. “Yes. One of my favorites since I was twelve.”

The woman smiles and sits beside me. “Bella,” she says, putting out her hand.

“Edward, the husband,” says the man beside her jokingly.

I put out my hand. “Beth,” I tell them.

“Which part are you at?” Bella wants to know.

“The Netherfield Park ball,” I reply.

“A classic scene,” Edward says admiringly.

“Where are you going?” Bella questions politely.

“Ultimately, Forks,” I say softly. “You’ve probably never heard of it—one of the smallest places on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State.”

“We’ve heard of it,” Edward tells me.

“Why are you going there?” Bella wants to know.

“My father, I’m moving in with him,” I tell her. “My mother’s boyfriend is this actor and he’s shooting in Tuscany of all places. I told my mom to stop feeling the need to stay with me and to go off and be with him. So, here I am, in LAX, waiting for my flight to Seattle, so that I can get to Forks, Washington.”

“What does your father do there?” Bella asks.

“He’s the fire chief,” I reply.

Bella raises her perfect eyebrows. “No way! My father is Charlie, the police chief. As luck would have it, they’re quite close. I know there’s the old stereotype of firemen and police officers being at odds with one another, but that isn’t the case. They’ve known each other for years. In fact, he’s my father’s closest friend in Forks.”

“Seriously?” I ask, shocked.

She nods. “Yes. Chief Christopher Partridge. My in-laws and I know him well.”

“Quite well,” Edward puts in.

Seeing that I’m still skeptical, Bella pulls out her Driver’s License. “We’re law families, after all,” she tells me, handing it over.

On it is printed ISABELLA M. CULLEN, and I assume she’s taken Edward’s name, due to the police chief’s surname being Swan. “What does the ‘M’ stand for?” I ask, curious, as I quickly skim through the rest of her information as I hand it back to her.

“Marie,” Edward answers for her.

“We could give you a ride to town, if you want,” Bella says politely. “Edward kept his car at SeaTac.”

“Mind if I call my dad first?” I ask her.

She smiles. “Not at all.”

I take out my phone and call my father’s number. “Dad?” I ask him.

“Hey, kiddo,” he says. “At the airport yet?”

“Yes, and I ran into some friends of yours...”

“Who?”

“Chief Swan’s daughter,” I say.

“Oh! Bella Cullen,” Dad says, and I detect happiness in his tone. “She must be there with her husband, Edward. Their daughter around?”

“Daughter?” I ask, my eyes flying to them—they couldn’t be more than my age. That, or they’d had some work done.

“Our daughter, Renesmee,” Bella tells me.

“She’s back in Forks,” Edward explains.

I relay the information to Dad. “They seem nice.”

“They are nice,” he replies.

“Listen, they’ve offered to drive me to Forks, if that’s all right...”

“No problem,” Dad says, and I hear a bell go off. “Oh, dear. Big fire in the center of town. I should jet. Tell them thank you. Love you, kid!” he says.

“Love you, too, Dad,” I reply, hanging up. “He says it’s fine.”

“Good,” Bella says. Her hand slips into her bag and she hands me something—a plane ticket of all things. “You’ve been upgraded to first class.”

“Isn’t that...wrong?” I ask her.

“Who’s going to tell?” Edward chuckles.

“Not me,” I say quickly.

We soon are permitted to board the plane and nobody bats an eye when I hand over my new, first-class ticket. I slip into a seat by the window, and Bella sits beside me, while Edward takes the end seat. For some reason, the first-class seats have three in a row instead of two, but the seats are larger, so I don’t complain, thinking the plane is a newer model or something. The flight isn’t very long, thankfully, and we make our way out of the plane in an orderly fashion as soon as we land. I explain about my luggage in baggage claim, and they walk with me there to collect it. I have three bags, due to my mother’s splurging, and Bella seems to understand about moms. We step out of the airport and down to one of the floors on the many-floored parking garage, and Edward seems to find his silver Volvo in a snap. We get inside and make our way out of their effortlessly, and soon we are on the freeway heading north.

The pair of them encourage me to sleep, as I looked exhausted, and I don’t need telling twice, knowing that the drive is over three hours. I feel my eyes growing heavy and slump in the backseat, but oddly find that, while my breathing grows heavy, I don’t fully lose consciousness. Not meaning to, I find myself listening to their conversation, and wonder if they will ultimately end up speaking about me...

“How rare are your kind?” Edward asks softly.

“What do you mean?” Bella asks.

“It’s uncanny but...”

“But what?”

He sighs. “I can’t... I can’t hear her, Bells...”

“So, when you say ‘my kind’ you mean...”

“Shields,” Edward says. “Yes.”

Bella sighs. “I don’t know. Eleazar seemed to know more about that, what with his own gift to figure it all out...”

“If I can’t hear her, who knows what she could be capable of,” Edward says softly, almost as if he’s memorized.

“Edward,” Bella admonishes, “stop. You’re beginning to sound like Aro.”

Edward sighs in defeat and drums his hands upon his steering wheel. He then pushes on the gas and it feels as if we’re flying. However, it is such a calming feeling that, quite soon, I’ve fallen asleep.

. . .

Adjusting to life with Dad wasn’t as difficult as I originally suspected. Since I still had six weeks before school began, I decided to take the opportunity to explore Forks a bit. After making my way through town and such, I found myself getting bored with the simplicity of it all, and ventured onto the trails. We had some sunny days one week, and so I went jogging in the woods. As I became braver with the area, I ventured deeper and deeper into the woods and found myself in awe of the perfect scenery. I’d never felt more at home anywhere, and the green and brown warmed my senses to the point where I believed living in the woods somewhere would be so idyllic.

I was in the woods during a weekend, about four weeks before my senior year was to begin, and I was sitting on the edge of a cliff, gazing out at the water. The view was beautiful and I never thought that anything in my life could ever compare. The water rippled ever so slightly then as a blast of cooling summer wind went by me, blowing my raven mane of hair a bit further down my back. A snap of a twig seconds later caught my attention and I tensed, turning, to see a creature stepping through a patch of trees a few yards away. A gasp barely had the opportunity to escape my throat as the creature charged me then, grabbing ahold of me and shaking me. My neck snapped back painfully and soon I found another gasp escaping my throat as the creature threw back its head and bared its teeth—in the sunlight, I caught the glimpse of fangs.

_No, please_! I screamed to myself. And then the creature dipped its head down and bit me, and I felt my blood leaving my neck as it bit down. Summoning all the strength I had left as this creature fed from me, I let out a blood-curling scream, hoping that someone would hear me in these woods. My scream, barely ten seconds long, was suddenly cut off as the creature slammed something hard down upon me, and I saw black. My hearing did not leave me, however, and soon I heard footsteps.

“Oh, no, Carlisle!” said a feminine voice.

“All that blood,” said a male voice.

“No, it’s...” Edward’s voice?!

“That’s the fire chief’s daughter, Beth,” Bella went on.

“We have to save her,” said another feminine voice—it was motherly, this one. “Carlisle, you have to.”

“Does she know?” asked an authoritative male voice.

“I can’t be sure,” Edward said quickly. “She... I couldn’t hear her,” he said, desperately. “I think we should save her.”

“We gotta!” said another male voice.

“Reminds me of myself,” said a female voice, slightly old-fashioned. “Carlisle, please. If she cannot be saved naturally...”

“Let me have a look.” I feel myself being lowered upon a cold table, and I’m immediately reminded of an exam table. “She’s breathing, but just barely. She’s lost a lot of blood. Beth, can you hear me?”

I want to speak, but the only sound that I emit is a wheeze.

“We don’t know her blood type,” Carlisle says softly. “I’m sure her medical records haven’t been faxed over yet—I would have remembered her name. It’s too risky to do a transfusion because of the risk of death, and she’s so weak now...” He sighs. “I’ll save her.”

“Come on,” says the motherly voice again. “Let’s leave him to do his work.”

I hear a door shut, and then Carlisle speaks again.

“I’m a doctor, Beth,” he tells me softly. “My one vow is to ‘do no harm’ but you will feel some pain and you will feel as if harm is being done to you. I’m so sorry,” he says then. I feel his breath upon my neck then as he bites just where the creature bit me. This time, however, he seems to take something from his mouth—it feels cool—and seems to seal my wounds shut with this liquid. Then, he proceeds to do the same to my arms and legs—biting each one twice—and then I feel nothing.

Then, all at once, it explodes to the surface. I feel like a demon possessed in some _Exorcist_ movie, and I feel myself lifting and falling of my own accord on the exam table. I find that I want to scream, but it feels as if my mouth has been super-glued shut, and I cannot make a sound. Why this doctor would do such a thing to me, I don’t know—was this some sort of surgery to ensure that I wouldn’t have rabies or something?! I didn’t know, yet I felt compelled to figure it out.

. . .

“Is it done?” the motherly voice asks.

“Esme, you know as well as I do that it could take from one to three days, if this process is done right,” Carlisle says gently.

“Yes, of course,” she says, and steps closer. “What a beautiful girl...”

“She reminds me of you,” Carlisle chuckles lightly. “When you were young and I first met you, remember?”

She laughs lightly in a moment of remembrance. “Yes. I always pictured having a daughter who looked like me...”

“Well, now, perhaps you can,” Carlisle says softly.

“But her father...”

“We’ll speak with him,” he tells her, and I know that, based on their familiarity with one another, that they must be married.

“What will the tribe say?” she asks softly.

“Edward is calling Jacob now,” Carlisle tells her. “He’ll explain, and hopefully—given the circumstances, what with his connection to Renesmee—it will all work out.”

“Hopefully she adapts to this way of life better than Jasper did,” Esme says softly.

“Time will tell,” Carlisle replies.

. . .

After the initial pain I feel, I seem to fall into a deep coma, where there is no beginning and no end. I find myself in a vast void of darkness, and wonder when—or if—I’ll be able to escape from it. There are icicles one moment in my subconscious, and then the flames take over and burn everything in sight. The blackness returns and I cannot see, yet I find that I _want _to see. One thing I feel is that the beating of my heart—that motion that you don’t feel until or unless you sit, stand, or lie completely still, without making any sudden movements that you can hear—stops. I immediately feel as if death is imminent, and I prepare myself for it.

However, death doesn’t come; in fact, I’ve never felt so well. I can hear things more sharply than ever before, and I wonder if this is all a dream. Then, suddenly, impatient, I wonder if I will be able to move remotely, if at all. I move to open my eyes and, surprisingly, they move willingly, and my lids rise, and I take in the ceiling of the room I am lying in. I’ve never seen a more beautiful ceiling, for I can take in every crack, every uneven beam set beneath the surface, and it is awe-inspiring.

I grip the edges of the exam table with my hands, and I am perplexed to find that it is not cool as metal should be. In fact, if anything, it feels neutral, almost as if my skin is used to the temperature by now. I push myself up and go flying, but land with the elegance of a dancer, without crashing into a bookshelf filled with medical textbooks. Looking around, I see a man who is unfamiliar to me—he is pale, to be sure, and has striking blond hair and amber eyes—and he smiles.

“Beth?” he says softly.

At once, my ears prick up in recognition. “Carlisle?” I ask, and I find myself in shock that I sound like an opera singer, and yet my cheeks don’t heat in embarrassment.

“So, you could hear us? Good.” He steps closer to me. “You and I have a lot of things to discuss, Beth. I’d ask you to sit down, but I think you’ll soon find that you won’t tire of standing ever again.”

Perplexed, I find my eyebrows going together. “All right,” I reply.

“Beth, do you know what happened to you?”

I nod, remembering. “Yes. I was sitting in the woods, watching the water,” I tell him softly as it all comes back to me. “I felt the wind go by, and then there was a tree branch snapping. I turned around and a creature came at me,” I said softly. “He bared his teeth and bit me, and soon I felt like...”

“Like what?” Carlisle asks.

“Death,” I reply. “Am I dead? Are you St. Peter? Do you just go by Carlisle as a part of your day job as a doctor?”

“Do you believe in God, Beth?”

I shake my head. “No. But it’s an interesting thought...”

Carlisle laughs. “I’ve been called a ‘demon’, ‘leech’, ‘monster’... Many things. Never St. Peter, but I like that.” He sighs. “Beth, the creature that attacked you was a vampire.”

I find myself sputtering with laughter. “A vampire?” I ask, and find myself clutching my throat as I listen to my voice. “Going I have to get used to that... But a vampire? Okay. Be honest with me. Where’s Anne Rice?”

“What?”

“She writes novels about vampires...”

“Yes, I know who Anne Rice is,” Carlisle says patiently. “Believe it or not, I’m older than she is, Beth.”

“She’s in her seventies,” I protest. “You don’t look forty yet...”

“Actually, I’m over three-hundred years old,” Carlisle tells me softly.

I shake my head. “Wait... You can’t be human if you’re over three-hundred years old. That’s just not possible.”

“Because I’m _not_ human,” Carlisle says, his voice easygoing as he lifts his hands ever so slightly, almost as if to calm me. “I’m a vampire, Beth, and so are you.”

I felt myself fall back, halfway, against the wall behind me. I felt as if something stopped me from losing complete control, and I wondered if it had to do with my lack of humanity within me. “Bella and Edward...?”

“Yes, they’re vampires, too,” Carlisle said slowly. “As is my wife—”

“Esme,” I said softly.

“Yes. And our other children—my two other sons, Emmett and Jasper...”

“Other sons?” I asked, confused.

“Yes, Esme and I have five children—six, including Bella, and we do,” he went on. “And we also have two other daughters, Alice and Rosalie. Alice is Jasper’s mate, and Rosalie is Emmett’s mate.”

“And I suppose Edward and Bella...?”

“They’re mates, yes.”

I feel myself wishing to shiver, but somehow, I remain motionless. “I...can’t... What’s happening to me, Carlisle?!” I cry out, feeling as if I was frozen in place.

“That would be Jasper,” Carlisle says softly. “Jasper. Enough.”

I suddenly feel at ease, as if a weight as been lifted from me, and I quickly fall to my knees, springing upwards immediately afterward. I catch sight of an adjacent bathroom to the room I’m in with Carlisle, and instantly spring towards it. I flick the light on automatically and find myself gasping at my altered appearance. My hair has a beautiful lightness to it and curls at the ends, rather than remaining completely flat. My face is a gorgeous alabaster so I no longer look perpetually sick; my nose, which had an unattractive broken look to it after I’d stumbled onto it as a little girl had been straightened, and resembled a Celestial shape which was the envy of popular girls I’d gone to school with; my lips were plumper—perfect, just what any girl could want; my lashes were thicker and longer... But I nearly let out a scream when I saw my eyes...

“Yes, they will remain so for a while,” Carlisle tells me, stepping into the doorway of the bathroom with a small smile. “When you get older—and leave ‘newborn-hood’ behind, they will darken to a lovely amber or to gold.”

I nodded, turning back to the mirror. My once too-broad shoulders now sloped correctly, while my breasts were...well, even. They perked up just as much as typical ones should, and did not seem to slope unattractively downward. I had a perfect hourglass figure instead of my original straight one, and I found that I was not in my hiking gear. Rather, I was dressed in a flowing dress that had a boat neckline and a flared skirt. I found myself reaching out to touch the mirror, the glass room-temperature to my touch, and soon found that the beautiful being staring back was, in fact, me.

“Perhaps you would like to hunt now.”

I turned to Carlisle, confused. “Hunt?” I ask.

He smiled, slightly broader this time, in a moment of understanding. “Feed,” he replied, and I was immediately hit with a burning sensation in my throat. My hand raised up to clutch it in an automatic gesture, and his gaze turned sympathetic. “Yes. A hunt is in order, I should think, at once... There’s one thing...”

“Yes?” I asked, managing to keep a head on the burning in my throat.

“We don’t drink the blood of humans. We drink animal blood,” Carlisle tells me.

I nod. “S-should be fine,” I manage to get out.

“Well, a hunt,” he says. “Bella, Edward.”

At once, Bella and Edward shot into the room, and I was taken aback by their quickness in doing so. Carlisle explained, and Bella stepped forward and took my hand. She had sympathy in her eyes and squeezed my hand as Carlisle told Edward where we should hunt and Edward nodded. Carlisle slipped from the room and Edward crossed to the massive window from floor to ceiling, opening it. He effortlessly jumped from the high place and onto the grass below, turning expectantly to Bella and me.

“Come on,” Bella encouraged, dropping my hand and swooping from the window and onto the ground below.

I gripped the side paneling. “You have _got_ to be kidding me!” I said.

“Try it,” Edward said, and his face radiated kindness.

“Fine,” I grumbled. I got into a cat-like position and sprang, landing about three feet ahead of them, and finding myself enjoying the rush that it felt to ‘fly’.

I caught wind of something as I flew, and immediately found myself charging into the woods. I could hear Edward and Bella laughing at my actions from behind me, but I didn’t listen. I didn’t even stop when I saw the lake in front of me; acting on instinct, I swooped into the air again and flew over it, over the pines, and landed gracefully on the other side. I found myself slowing down then, as the smell grew in its intensity, and I found I didn’t even need to ask what to do, as I sensed Edward and Bella behind me.

We stood in a cluster of trees and, just a few yards ahead of us in a thicket, as the black bear roamed about. I could deduce that it was a male—as I would never wish to potentially separate a female from her cubs—and found myself lowering myself in the grass. As soon as the bear turned, I was off like a light, springing seemingly out of nowhere and catching the animal by surprise. It let out a roar as I tackled it, bringing it to the ground and knocking it flat onto its back. I found myself copying its noises as I leaned down, ignoring its massive claws as I dove downwards towards its throat, ripping it quickly, its warm blood dripping down my throat. I’d never tasted something so unbelievably delicious, and found that I loved it—I absolutely adored the taste of blood!

Once the animal was drained dry, Edward and Bella stared at me, nodding to me in approval, and I felt proud. Then, from far off, I heard a snap of a twig, and I was off in that direction immediately; I could feel them behind me, and it was good to know that they had an eye on me in case I got out of hand. I found myself wanting to test myself, so I ran up a tree to get a better look at the ground ahead. There, in a nearby thicket, I spotted a Roosevelt Elk, and I felt myself immediately wanting it. I got into position and waited for it to walk my way, and, when it did so, I sprang. Just like the black bear, I handled it easily, and didn’t even get stabbed by its antlers. Once the animal died at my hands, I found myself to be satisfied and, as I untangled myself from its corpse, I turned to look at Edward and Bella, who seemed impressed.

“Can you hear anything?” Bella asks him.

I sigh a little. “I heard you two in the car, on that first day,” I say softly. “And before you try to disregard it—who are Eleazar and Aro?”

“Eleazar is one of our cousins from Denali,” Bella says patiently. “I’m sure you’ll meet them all at some point.”

“Aro is the leader of the Volturi, a coven in Tuscany. They’re our royalty,” Edward says, and he looks a bit unsure of himself. “Aro likes to find the ones of us with gifts... Five of us in this, the Olympic Coven, have gifts. I can hear thoughts, Bella is a Shield,” he goes on. “Our sister, Alice, can predict the future as it comes to her, and Jasper can manipulate others emotions as he sees fit.”

“And the fifth?” I ask him.

“Our Renesmee,” Bella says with a small smile. “She places her hand upon your face as a means of communication. She can physically show you her thoughts and put them into your own mind.”

“Amazing,” I breathe. I then find myself curious. “Could _I _have a gift?” I want to know, genuinely curious.

“You seem to possess self-control already,” Edward says and, turning, I spot a shrew walking about.

My throat burns ever so slightly, but I do not give into it, instead turning back to him. “I hope I have a gift,” I say, letting out a laugh. “It would be fun to do something worthwhile, other than running fast...”

Bella looks interested. “We also have strength...”

“Really?” I ask, and run towards a tree beside me. I reach down into the earth and yank it up unceremoniously by its roots. It is an effortless thing to do, and I find myself giggling at my strength, never being able to do something like _that_ before in my life. “Well, that’s something, at least,” I allowed. As I dropped the tree, it flew so quickly from my hands that I believed it would cause a domino effect, so I tried and failed to stop it completely. It hit the ground and splintered and I, never liking a mess, screamed, throwing my hands up into the air and letting out a further shriek when the heavens opened.

The sky cracked immediately after I’d raised my hands skyward, and lightning erupted from the tips of my fingers. Turning, I saw Edward and Bella’s eyes popping at what I was doing, and I immediately wanted it to stop, and it did. I moved my fingers ever so slightly then, and, finding them working, envisioned rain. Immediately, water streamed upwards from my fingers and then proceeded to fall from the sky. I found myself laughing with this and soon the rain turned to snow on my mental command before I’d had enough and quickly stopped altogether.

“Atmokinesis,” Edward breathed, shocked.

“She can control the weather,” Bella replied.

They quickly took me by my arms and ran back towards the Cullen house, whereupon I was brought at once to Carlisle after introductions were made. Edward and Bella quickly explained what had happened and Carlisle almost immediately took me outside for a demonstration. I was immediately self-conscious as Esme, Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, and Emmett came out to watch me, too. I felt I had no way to go but up, so I focused on the sky, and brought my hands upwards.

Envisioning it clearly in my mind’s eye, hail soon exploded from my fingertips and soon came forth from the sky above. I felt the palatable tension behind me as I did what I did, and soon the hail morphed into snow without me wavering. The snow soon turned to a heavy rain before we had the opportunity to get used to the snow, and then, before I could stop it, the lightening exploded once again and ravaged the sky. I could feel the Cullen’s behind me were completely mesmerized by what I was doing, and wondered if this was considered to fall under the ‘impressive’ category. After another moment of lightening cracking the sky, I turned off the lightshow and turned back to them.

“Atmokinesis indeed,” Carlisle said. “I’m tempted to call Benjamin to see if he would be willing to work with her...”

“Benjamin?” I ask.

“Benjamin can manipulate the elements,” Carlisle says patiently. “Although he was born with that ability, I believe he could be of help to you in controlling them.”

“If Amun lets him,” Emmett says, grinning at me. “But you probably can’t do much—you’re just at your strongest right now. In a few weeks, it’ll be all gone.”

I find myself fixing him with a look. I figure out he must be the strongest one in the house, due to the largeness of his frame, and he seems quite confident in this. I then hop up onto the porch and am standing next to him at lightning speed. I make a grab for him then before he can get away and toss him at full force towards the knothole of a distant three and land him in it effortlessly. I spring off the porch then and go towards the tree, all the while he is struggling to get out, and suppress my giggling.

“Remember, Emmett, I _am_ at my strongest right now,” I say.

Jasper snickers at that; his hair is wild and curly, and an attractive honey-blond tint, which gleams in the partly-sunny light as he assesses me. “You’re quite calm for someone your age,” he observes.

“Experience with Newborns?” I ask him, curiously.

He nods. “Yes. I was a solider in the Civil War, and was turned and taken in by a woman called Maria. She was building an army of Newborns—I haven’t seen one as calm as you since Bella was turned.”

I shrugged. “It’s a gift,” I reply.

“What other gifts do you possess?” asks Rosalie, speaking for the first time. She reminds me of a Greek goddess, with her flowing blonde hair and alert eyes.

I shrug. “I can sing,” I admit, wondering if I will still be able to do so now that I was no longer human. “I can also play violin. And I can speak a few languages...”

Rosalie raises an eyebrow. “What languages?”

“English, obviously,” I reply, and Emmett laughs. “French, Spanish, Italian, Mandarin, and I was learning Arabic,” I confess.

“You’ll find your memory will be intensified, so those won’t go away if you continue to speak them,” Carlisle tells me. “I’m sure your parents spoke them with you...”

It is then that, for the first time that day, I find myself thinking of my father and what will become of him. Surely, due to my changed appearance, I couldn’t very well go home. I remembered that he was on a week-to-week schedule, where he would work one week and be off another. I wondered what I could possibly do to keep him in my life now that I’d changed...

“There was a fire in the woods while you were...out,” Carlisle says, picking up on what my face is registering. “Some of the charred remains of some hikers couldn’t be identified. I could easily falsify some documents saying that you were one of the unknown hikers who perished in the flames.”

I realized that, for the first time, I couldn’t cry. My eyes pricked under pressure, but I could not for the life of me form tears. I gritted my teeth together, forcing myself not to scream. “I think that might be best,” I say softly.

“How old are you, Beth?” Esme asks me quietly.

“Seventeen,” I reply.

“Where were you in school?” she asks.

“I was going to begin my senior year,” I reply easily.

“I have some connections at the high school,” Carlisle tells me. “We’ll say that you’re our newly adopted teenager, and you can take your classes online. Since you don’t need sleep anymore, and you’ll probably only need to leave the house to hunt—unless you want to go somewhere else—you can probably graduate within a few months if you’d like. Where did you attend classes in California? Were you a very good student?”

“I attended the Westlake School for Girls,” I reply. “My father paid for the tuition—and I had half a scholarship—so that’s how we could afford it. Yes, I think I was a good student. I was never perfect in math and my grades there were usually high B’s.”

“Better than mine,” Emmett muttered, now having managed to get himself out of the knothole, and shooting a glance my way.

“We’ll send over the falsified documents,” Carlisle promises, “and you can begin classes online for Forks High School.”

“It really would be too dangerous for me to attend school, I suppose,” I say, letting out a small chuckle.

“Not necessarily,” Jasper interrupts. “If we can be sure by the end of the month that you are, in fact, completely in control, then you can attend classes there.”

“Jasper’s right,” Alice says quickly, shooting me a smile. She has black hair in the style of a pixie-cut, and the nimbleness of a ballet dancer, and I find that I like her immediately. “I can help him, if you like.”

I smile at her. “Thank you. Whatever helps.”

“Carlisle, we’re getting her a car, right?” Emmett asks.

Carlisle smiles at him. “Now, it would be cruel not to,” he replies, turning to me. “Do you have a driver’s license, Beth?”

“She does,” Bella replies.

“Good. We’ll get you a car, and see about those self-control lessons,” Carlisle promises me with a smile.

“There remains one last thing to consider,” Esme puts in.

“What’s that?” I ask her.

“We’ll have to decide on your name,” she tells me.

I blink. “What do you mean? My name?”

“It’s a small town,” Emmett says.

“Emmett’s right. You can’t go walking around as Elizabeth Partridge—that’s a dead girls’ name!” Rosalie cries out.

“She can’t be a Hale. She’s not even blonde,” Jasper says, looking me over.

“A _what_?” I demand, confused.

“Rose and Jazz’s cover story is that they’re twins with the last name ‘Hale’, due to their being blonde,” Edward explains.

“She could be a Cullen,” Carlisle observes.

“Her skin tone matches yours,” Alice puts in.

“But her hair belongs to Esme,” Jasper concludes.

“Beth Cullen,” I say softly, the name mulling over in my mind. “Elizabeth Vivian Cullen...” I find that I like the sound to it, and let out a giggle.

“It’s decided, then,” Carlisle says. “We’ll also draw up some false adoption papers for Beth in case anyone decides to come snooping. You can take Edward’s bedroom, and we’ll model it to your tastes now that he lives in the cottage with Bella.”

“House rules,” Esme says, putting an arm around me. “I suggest that you don’t bring any _human_ boys into your bedroom, Beth...”

I giggle slightly at that, uncomfortable. “That won’t be a problem,” I say, as we girls drift off to one corner and the guys, taking the hint, step away. “I... I don’t...”

“What?” Alice asks, worming her way between me and Esme. “What don’t you do, Beth? I want to know.”

“Don’t pressure her, Alice,” Rosalie admonishes.

“Right,” Bella says. “It’s not a big deal.”

If I were still human, I’d be blushing right now. I knew I shouldn’t have been ashamed of it or anything, but... “I don’t...” I shook my head. “I don’t...have sex,” I say, whispering the last part of my secret. “No need to worry about...any of that.”

“Maybe a vampire mixer!” Alice says, clapping her hands.

“Alice,” Rosalie says, putting her head into her hand.

“Yeah, I think you’re scaring her,” Bella says.

“A party may not be such a bad thing,” Esme says. “Although, of course, it would have to be vampire-only. If your dad came, Bella, he could probably deduce that Beth is, in fact, Christopher’s daughter...”

“And you could be arrested for kidnapping because I’m still technically seventeen, even though I want to be here of my own free will,” I say, shaking my head. “Oh, dear. Well, I know that I’ll be able to keep my head up in this town. My dad doesn’t have any other kids that I know about and it’s not like I’m at a loss for what the town looks like. School and then home—I know the drill.”

“Why don’t we show you your new room?” Esme asks me with a smile. “You can tell me what you may want and then we can order it online or do whatever you want.”

I am taken back inside the house and up a staircase and then I’m brought down a hallway and one door is promptly opened by Alice, game-show hostess style, and she prances around the room like I just won a prize. I take in the futon-like sofa and find myself admiring the floor-to-ceiling windows on every wall. There is a desk with a brand-new desktop upon it, and there is a new-looking laptop on the futon. There is a flat screen T.V., as well as a stereo with lots of CD’s, and a cell phone charging on the stereo cabinet, all which Esme says are mine to keep.

Alice takes me by the arm and leads me into a massive walk-in closet and eagerly shows me the clothes. I get a good look at myself in the floor-length mirror and am mortified that there are blood stains on my dress. I shove Alice out of the closet to change—I’m not really a clothes person, but I still like to look good for appearances’ sake. After tearing through various garment bags, I finally find my favorite cut of blue jeans, plus a scoop-neck blouse which isn’t too frilly, as well as a pair of sneakers and cotton socks. Stepping out, I catch Bella’s smile of approval—I guess she isn’t into clothes either—and Rosalie’s look of bemusement, and Alice’s look of contained fury; I quickly guessed that she’d been the one to dress me post-transformation.

“Your training begins now,” Alice says promptly, hauling me out of there.

. . .

The training had gone better than expected, so I was quickly enrolled in senior classes at Fork High School for the second week of September. My classes were calculus, European literature, physics, A.P. government, Japanese, and drama. I received a special notice from Carlisle, informing the school that on sunny days, I’d be pulled out due to hiking and other wildlife activities. I remembered in the four weeks of training that I’d been subjected to sunlight—encrusted diamonds had seemingly formed upon my skin—and so if there was even a chance of sunlight, I was ordered to turn in any work online for the day and return the next.

The day before I was due to begin school, Carlisle and Esme drove me out to Port Angeles to choose my car. I had no idea where we were going, but when we arrived at a luxury car lot, I immediately figured it out. I remembered sitting in the back of the car, looking out at the highway going by, and wondering where I was going, yet when the telltale flags of the car lot came into view, I knew. I found I was torn between a 2011 red BMW 3 convertible and a 2012 silver Volvo S60. They were both so pretty—and Esme was so persuasive—that I was permitted to test drive both cars. Even though both were amazing, I decided on the red convertible and hoped that Rosalie would be upset that I essentially selected the same car she had. But, as I was about to tell Carlisle and Esme my choice, I saw a sleek little black number—a 2012 Jaguar XJ convertible—and it was all over.

I was shocked on the first day when I drove onto campus that everyone seemed to be staring at my car. Due to my excessive hunting, I’d been told by Jasper that my feelings of thirst could be muted for a few hours at a time. As with my training that summer, part of it had to deal with hunting so my eyes had turned more quickly than the Cullen’s had originally thought possible. I got out of my car on that first day, locking it automatically behind me, and made my way to the front office, turning in the necessary paperwork and smiling and thanking everyone for their friendly demeanors. My first class was calculus with Mrs. Davidson, and I hoped it would go by quickly and painlessly. As I stepped inside I was directed to a desk by the window, and took the window seat, organizing my papers, pencil pouch, and folders upon my desktop as I waited.

“Mind if I sit here?”

I raised my eyes, mentally crossing my fingers that it wouldn’t be a human, and made eye contact with, I initially suspected, a vampire. “Not at all,” I forced myself to say, giving a small smile.

“Thanks,” the guy said, sitting beside me. “You new here?”

“How could you tell?”

“Instinct.” He had a confident manner about him that oddly wasn’t unattractive, especially when he smiled at me like that. 

“Uh-huh,” I say, finding myself drumming my fingers on my calculus textbook to appear nonchalant.

“Alexander,” he said, putting out his hand, and I marveled that they were indeed the same temperature to mine.

“Beth,” I reply. It was then that I realized that, all around us, that Mrs. Davidson, as well as all the students, had completely frozen. I’d not stopped shaking hands with Alexander, who I suspected, so we two were still moving. “Was that...?”

“Yes,” Alexander replied simply, letting go of my hand. “I possess Chronokinesis—I am a vampire who can manipulate time.”

I nod. “I see.”

“And you can control the weather, it seems. Very impressive.”

“Vampires can do that?” I whisper. “Feel out what other’s abilities are?”

“Some can,” Alexander says, “one called Eleazar does, at least.” He looks me over then, shaking his head. “But something tells me that you’re holding yourself back...”

I raise my eyebrows. “Excuse me?”

“I think you have another, powerful gift—you just haven’t tapped into it yet.”

I shake my head. “I’m not sure I understand.”

Alexander’s eyes drift to the whiteboard, where markers are waiting for Mrs. Davidson to teach us our math lesson. “Pick one of those up.” His arm flashes out to stop me from getting to my feet. “No. Pick them up with your mind.”

“You’ve got to be...”

“Kidding? No.” He smiles, not unfriendly, and nods in encouragement. “Try.”

I roll my eyes momentarily but make eye contact with the white board marker that Alexander had indicated—a green one. Finding my eyebrows knitting together, I willed the marker to go _up_—and it did. It flew into the air, whizzing this way and that, before coming towards us, landing safely in Alexander’s hand. I leaned back against my desk chair, stunned, and shook my head. “Whoa.”

“So, you’re psychokinetic,” Alexander observes, “very impressive.”

I shake my head. “More like unbelievable...”

“Nothing is unbelievable,” Alexander says with a chuckle.

I raise my eyebrows. “Seriously?”

“Seriously,” he replies.

“How are you here?” I whisper to him. “My family...”

“The Olympic Coven, I know of it,” Alexander tells me. “I lived with the Denali Coven for some time—they taught me their way of life, and then it was time to move on.”

“You’re a Nomad,” I say.

He smiles. “Guilty.”

“How long have you...?”

“One hundred and fifty years, give or take,” he replies. “I worked at the court of Queen Victoria as a servant to Prince Albert—kind man, truly, I was his favorite. When the prince got typhoid fever, he ordered that only I and his doctor, William Jenner, remain with him. When the end came, we were sent off, and the queen and his children were there when he died. I felt the symptoms myself and attempted to run, but it was far too late to do so. When I was found by an unknown Nomad, he guessed the symptoms and transformed me into what I am.”

“Why do you think you got your gifts?” I ask him.

He smiles. “Well, I suppose it was since I was always on time. Well, not always, but when I was not, I could manipulate the prince into not being angry with me.”

I found myself laughing at that. “That’s quite funny.”

“I am familiar with your parents, Carlisle and Esme...”

I felt myself warm to that—figuratively, at least—at the thought of Carlisle and Esme being my new parents. “Are you?”

“Yes. I am going to come and stay with you and your coven. Tanya—the leader of the Denali Coven—has arranged it.”

I nod. “I see...” I hesitate. “How old were you...?”

“Twenty-two,” he replies. “You?”

“Seventeen,” I tell him.

He nods. “Have any hopes and dreams?”

I sigh. “Not many. The usual—husband, children, career. Well, best two out of three at this point, I should think.”

“Yes,” Alexander says, snapping his fingers so as the classroom around us comes to life once again. “Best two out of three.”


	2. New Developments

_After Edward and Bella dropped me off at Dad’s, I could find the key buried in the soil of the typical potted plant upon the front porch. I unlocked the front door and stepped inside briefly to put my suitcases in the front hall before returning the key to the planter. I locked the door behind me and remained in the foyer for a moment, becoming aware of my surroundings and considering what to do next. The logical choice was to bring my many belongings upstairs and I decided to do that first._

_The staircase was a typical dozen-stair arrangement divided into two separate parts. The first part was seven steps, and led to a landing which held an end table, and, just above that, had an oil painting of a bouquet of withering wildflowers. I got all my suitcases onto the landing before climbing up the final set of five stairs, three times over, to bring all my suitcases completely upstairs. I made my way down the corridor, stopping at the end of it and opening the door, finding myself raising my eyebrows at what I saw._

_My new bedroom consisted of a full-sized wrought-iron bed frame—which curled delightfully in some places and had four rising pieces on each corner; a desk with a desktop computer center stage; a fatback T.V. with a VHS and DVD included; and two doors—one for the walk-in closet and the second for the en suite bathroom. My new bedding was, of course, a standard, patterned comforter; a goose down comforter; a fleece blanket; and standard sheet set. My walls were an appealing green, while my bedding and curtains were coordinating colors of green as well._

_The second logical thing to do was to unpack my suitcase and hang my freshly laundered clothes up in the closet, as well as in the dressers I had scattered about the room. Two were in the closet—which I assumed could house my few pieces of lingerie and my necessary underwear. I remember going pink when my mother had physically dragged me into Victoria’s Secret and had me promptly measured and outfitted into things that the perky salesgirl claimed were ‘all the rage’, ‘hot’, and something she said was ‘fluffy’. I hardly absorbed any of it, instead opting to drag my mother into a bookstore immediately afterwards to buy some textbooks I needed for school._

_After precisely folding and hanging every piece of clothing I owned, I tucked my suitcases into the back of the closet and looked out the window. It had turned out to be a lukewarm afternoon, and I decided to make the most of the day, although I didn’t know the first thing of what to do in a place like this. After plugging in my cell phone, I considered searching on it—or the new desktop—to see what could possibly be done for recreation out here. It was tempting, but I wanted to see the rest of the house first._

_I went downstairs to the kitchen, feeling terribly ordinary as I pulled a cardigan around my shoulders, and discovered a note from Dad upon the fridge. I raised my eyebrows for the second time that afternoon, and wondered what on earth that was doing there. He must’ve had a break between the massive fire break-out, I thought to myself as I pulled it off the fridge to read it. Dad always had unique handwriting; when Mom finally revealed her address to him when I was in middle school, his backlog of old birthday and Christmas cards suddenly flew in, and I immediately felt guilty for not reaching out to him on my own sooner than that._

Beth—

Hey, sweetheart. Sorry about the late notice but I must do some paperwork at the office until late. I got a ride from Deputy Channing, and I’ve left the car in the garage for you to take. Also, if you want, I’ve left some cash for you in the jar in the cupboard if you want to order in or, perhaps, drive into town and eat out or go to the store. There is enough cash to do virtually whatever you want within town—just no caviar dinners, I’m afraid, but you’re not much into fish.

I have taken a few days off starting tomorrow and we’ll plan some hikes or I could drive you to Port Angeles if you like to show you around the place. You’ve hardly been here since you moved with your mom—have you? I know you could search online for pictures of the Olympic Peninsula or whatever it is you kids search for, but, these days, the real thing is just as beautiful as it was twenty years ago.

Love you, kid.

—Dad

_I decided to go for a run or for a hike, come back for a shower, and then take Dad’s car and some cash and just head into the town itself to see what looked appealing. I made my way back upstairs to my bedroom and changed into some hiking clothes—capris, a tank top, a different sweater, and some sneakers—before heading out. I locked the door behind me and jogged up the street, not heading in any particular direction, merely just going which way the scenery looked ‘better’._

_After jogging about five miles from home, I found myself in a beautiful forest and seemed utterly content at this untouched piece of land, save for the for trials that were clearly man-made. The air smelled rich and clean—it had obviously rained earlier that day, but the sun was determined to creep through the clouds and surprise everyone. I thought such a thing was ridiculous but trudged on, finding myself nearing a clearing, and nearly gasped aloud at what I saw._

_There were Edward and Bella sitting in the center of the clearing, violets and other wildflowers growing around them, utterly absorbed in one another. The sun was covered by the clouds then, but something seemed different about the two of them, now that they were on their own in a seemingly private location. Bella said something to Edward, which he clearly found to be a combination of amusing and troublesome, but Bella immediately got to her feet and ran—so quickly that she disappeared into a nearby thicket! Edward didn’t much care for that, so he ran as fast as she did, into the very same thicket._

_Shrinking backwards, I nearly ran all the way home, shocked at the unexpected development and resolved that they were weird and that I should probably not be around the pair of them any time soon. As I ran the five miles back home, a heavy rain picked up and I had to use my flimsy sweater as cover. It wasn’t going well, and by the time I arrived on my street, I was dripping wet from head to toe. I nearly let out a scream on Dad’s block when a rather large car almost collided into me, and one rather bulky guy in the driver’s seat absolutely lost it. It was a Jeep, and I resolved to report their sorry assess once I was in a condition to do so._

_Just as I let myself in and stepped inside, I nearly screamed for the second time that day when my father stepped out from the kitchen. He hardly recognized me, due to my doubly altered appearance, and told me to throw my clothes downstairs before my shower so as he could wash them. He was terribly understanding about the whole thing, my father, and I hollered to him about the Jeep, to which he found utterly amusing. I stuck my tongue out at him as I returned to my bedroom to take a shower, only in my bra and underwear now, quickly taking those articles of clothing off me before allowing the hot water to clear my senses from my mind and the rainwater from my body._

_I trooped downstairs afterwards, dressed in jeans and a typical long-sleeved shirt and my clean pair of sneakers, and Dad threw my raincoat at me. He explained he was taking me out to the local ‘nice’ restaurant in town called Creekside, and I wasn’t about to pass up a night where I wouldn’t have to cook or pay for a meal. Dad had already changed from work into casual-elegant attire, and he told me my clothes were just fine as we stepped back out into the rain. Just as we were about to get into the car, someone from across the street called out to us._

_“Hey, Partridge!”_

_Dad turned around and grinned, and the rain seemed to let up in that moment. “Swan! How are ya?!” he called back. Looking both ways, both Dad and this man—who I quickly deduced to being Chief of Police Charlie Swan, stopped mid-way in the street and clapped one another on the shoulder and continued exchanging pleasantries._

_“How ya been, Chris?” Chief Swan asked._

_“Not bad. Yourself?” Dad asked._

_“Not too bad,” Chief Swan replied, looking past Dad to me. “No.” He turned back to Dad, a look of shock on his face. “Rosemary gave you custody?!”_

_Dad laughed and shook his head. “No. Beth opted to come up herself.”_

_“Oh, my god...” Chief Swan shook his head. “So, that’s who Bells and Edward said they gave a lift to.” He chuckled as Dad put an arm around Chief Swan and approached me again, and I automatically put out my hand._

_“Chief Swan. Great to meet you,” I said, smiling._

_“My Bella spoke very highly of you, Elizabeth,” Chief Swan replied, shaking my hand. “She doesn’t often do that—last person she did that to, she married.”_

_“Well, she seemed very nice, sir,” I reply._

_“Oh, Elizabeth, please call me ‘Charlie’. Everyone else seems to.”_

_“Charlie,” I say, smiling up at him. “Call me ‘Beth’, please.”_

_Charlie smiles at Dad and leans up familiarly against his car. “So, tell me, Beth... You here to stay? I was afraid that your father would do something drastic...”_

_I raise my eyebrows, turning to my father. “Perhaps a dog?” I asked._

_Charlie cleared his throat uncomfortably, and quickly changed the subject. “Where are you taking this one tonight?” he asked Dad._

_“Creekside,” Dad replies, either not caring or not noticing Charlie’s clear discomfort only a moment ago. “Why don’t you join us?”_

_“Thanks, but Renesmee and Jacob are coming over,” Charlie says with a smile. “The wife’s making dinner...”_

_“Sue is well?” Dad asked._

_Charlie beamed—he was clearly in love with this woman. “Yeah. Still hard to believe it’s been almost four years.”_

_“And the kids?” Dad questioned._

_Kids?! I thought to myself. Bella hadn’t mentioned having any siblings... Then again, we’d only known each other officially for a few hours..._

_“Leah and Seth? Fine,” Charlie replied. “I can adopt them, but they don’t have to take the name—Sue and I call it a ‘modern adoption’,” he says with a chuckle. “Great kids—I love them, really. Seth and I spend all our weekends fishing, and Leah helps Sue out around the house. It’s happy.”_

_“Their eating is under control?” Dad asks—clearly an inside joke._

_“No—they’re as bad as Jacob. Renesmee goes through bouts of hunger, too—one day, she’s all over Sue’s cooking. The next, she’s claimed to already eaten. Mostly, she just puts her food onto Jacob’s plate—but you can do that sort of thing with your wife.” Charlie’s front door opens and a woman who looks to be Native American stands upon his porch. He turns around at what must be a familiar set of squeaks and his face breaks into a grin. “Hey,” he calls, waving._

_“Hello, Charlie. Chris! How are you?” the woman calls._

_“Just fine, thanks, Sue!” Dad calls. “This is Beth!” he says, indicating me._

_I wave. “Nice to meet you, Sue,” I say, wondering if I should’ve asked permission before calling her by her first name._

_“Beth! So, wonderful to meet you,” Sue says with a smile. “You should meet our Leah sometime, Beth. You two would hit it off, I think.”_

_I smile at that. “I’d love to, Sue.”_

_“Oh! Our reservations are in fifteen minutes,” Dad says._

_“All right. Good night then, Fire Boy,” Charlie says, clapping Dad on the shoulder._

_“Back at you, Cop Guy,” Dad says._

_“Beth, really nice to see you,” Charlie says, shaking my hand._

_“Back at you,” I reply._

. . .

“Beth?”

I raise my eyes, the half-dead body of a mountain lion barely managing to writhe in my hands. I lean down and complete the kill, the rest of blood trickling down my throat with ease. I straighten up then; it will be dark soon and I still have an essay due tomorrow. I then remind myself that sleep is no longer a necessity, so it quickly calms my nerves as I perch on a nearby tree limb and wait for Bella to complete her hunt.

“You were gone,” Bella says after she’s finished. She shoves the carcass of her own mountain lion away from her, and moves to stand at the base of my tree. “What’s the matter?” she asks, and I see genuine concern in her golden eyes.

I sigh. “Did you ever have a moment when human memories suddenly returned to you?” I ask her. “Long-term, it’s not an issue for me, although I suppose I should begin writing things down just in case,” I say softly. “But short-term... They come at me in waves and I find myself...”

“Confused?” Bella asks.

I nod. “Yeah. Something like that...”

She nods. “What did you see? Anything good?”

“Your dad,” I confess. “I remember meeting your dad.”

At once, Bella is tense. “My dad?”

I nod. “Yeah.”

“Could he see you? Clearly?”

I shake my head. “I don’t think so. It was dark—close to dinner hour. On my first night here, after you and Edward dropped me off, I went for a hike, and then...” I shook my head, and then found myself laughing. “I thought you were trouble...”

Bella laughed. “Trouble? Us?”

“To be sure,” I replied in a faux British accent. “I went for a five-mile hike or jog or whatever and found you two in...”

“In...what?”

“A meadow,” I say, unable to find a better word.

“Oh. Yeah, that’s our place,” Bella says softly.

“Well...you said something to Edward—I didn’t know what—and ran away from him! And I mean _ran_—vampire ran...”

“Whoa. So, you dodged a bullet quickly...”

“What do you mean?”

“Had you inadvertently revealed yourself, or if we’d somehow got wind or it...” Bella shook her head. “The Volturi.”

“What?!” I cried out.

Bella zoomed forward then, perching directly in front of me on the tree limb. “Do you remember anything—_anything_—about the thing that bit you?”

“I couldn’t see his face...”

“You’re sure it was a man?”

“Yes. He yelled at me to keep quiet—I remember now...”

“Good. Remember anything else?”

“His face was covered. I couldn’t see it. White hands and...red eyes,” I whisper then, the detail having escaped me before.

“What was he wearing? A mask?”

“No,” I reply. “A black cloak, with red velvet inside it...”

Bella looks shocked then and immediately drags me down from the tree, through the woods, and towards the house. We fly in through the nearest door, and, just as we get up the stairs, Alice is seated on the couch, Jasper beside her. As we enter, Alice looks quite shocked, a sketch of something in her hand.

“Alice?” Bella asks.

“What’s that?” I ask.

Alice holds up a sketch then as Carlisle and Esme enter from the kitchen. Edward appears at Bella’s side, and Emmett and Rosalie peer over Alice’s shoulders. “Does he look familiar to you?” she asks.

Just as I am about to answer, I feel myself tense as Alex comes into the room. How he had such a profound effect on me, I’ll never know, but as he peered at Alice’s sketch, I sensed some familiarity in his eyes. His look of shock soon turned into anger, and he grabbed the sketch from Alice and tore it to pieces.

“Alex!” I shouted.

“That _monster_!” he shouted. “I never thought that I...”

“What?” Carlisle said, genuinely concerned.

“That... _He_ did this to me!” Alex screeched.

I find myself lowering myself to the other living room couch, opposite of Alice and Jasper. “I suppose that would make two of us,” I reply. “I recognize the bridge to his nose...”

Alex yells again, smashing a glass vase from the dining room table. “Made me suffer—for years I endured... All that blood of innocent people spilt...”

“Who is he?” I ask, softly, calmly.

“You haven’t told her?” Alice asks, raising her eyes to Bella.

“What? Told me what?” I ask.

“The Volturi are our royalty, of sorts,” Carlisle says softly. “They reside in Tuscany, and they’ve been in...business for centuries. I was once a high-ranking member, but I could not abide to drink the blood of humans, so I left on good terms.”

“Yes, I remember all that,” I say, a little impatiently. “And he’s a member of the Volturi?” I ask, nodding to Alice’s sketch. “That man that you’ve drawn is a member?”

“He’s the leader,” Jasper puts in.

“He’s called Aro,” Alice replies, looking from me to the sketch. “Aro makes the choice to convert those who he sees as valuable, just as you’ve proven to be...”

“Or risking the exposure of our world,” Bella says softly.

“What?” Edward asks, looking down at his mate.

“Beth told me in the woods that she saw us,” Bella says.

“I saw them in the meadow, on my first day in Forks,” I reply. “Bella said something that Edward thought to be amusing, and then Bella...ran,” I say, not wishing to draw it out longer than necessary.

“Aro didn’t want Beth created...” Carlisle says, shocked.

“Aro wanted Beth _eliminated_,” Alice replies, looking up at me. “I can’t see them coming, but I’ll watch for it. Perhaps if he sees what a prize Beth is...”

“No.” Alex’s voice is firm; clearly finished with his tantrum, he comes and stands in front of me protectively. “Aro is not coming near Beth—_not_ again.”

I manage to walk away from him, to a relatively safe distance as dictated by human personal space laws. “I _don’t_ want you to protect me,” I say, firmly. I turn to the rest of the Cullen’s. “That goes for all of you. I can’t ask you to...”

Esme comes and takes me into her arms. “Beth, you know full well that we’ve managed to obtain legal documents for your formal adoption,” she says softly. “We are your family, like it or not, and we’ll protect you, like it or not.”

“I can’t ask you to...”

“You can.” Carlisle puts a hand upon my shoulder. “Trust us, Beth, you don’t need to pretend with any of us.”

“I just don’t want to be a burden,” I say, settling into Esme’s arms. It was never like this with my own mother—granted, she was a dear, loving woman, but it was like living with a rich teenager when I was with her. For junior prom, she went for the slutty dress—when I didn’t even want to go to a dance with a boy I didn’t care about and waste a whole bunch of time and money.

“You’re _not_,” Esme assures me.

“We’ll tell you if you are,” Emmett tells me.

I glare at him. “Will you?” I ask, a challenge, and he backs down. “It is wonderful that you all wish to protect me, but...”

“But what?” Esme asks, pulling back and looking at me. “What are you thinking?”

“I still can’t hear you,” Edward tells me quietly.

I shrug. “No idea why...”

“Come,” Carlisle says softly. “If you don’t tell us your thoughts, we’ll never be able to even attempt to help you.”

I pull back from Esme and turn away from them all, crossing my arms and gripping my elbows tightly to hold my own concentration. “Perhaps if I left... I could become a Nomad and practice vegetarianism under an assumed name...”

“No.” Esme crosses to me and grips me, tightly. “You won’t go _anywhere_, Beth. We don’t even know if there’s danger yet, and I won’t have any of my children leaving here if it’s under the guise of protecting all of us. We remain together as a family, Beth. If there is danger to be considered with the Volturi, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. But unless that time comes, you’ll stay here.”

I turn back to face them, knowing that, had I remained human, there would be tears falling from my eyes. “I didn’t ask for this—any of it. I don’t want to put any of you into danger if it comes to that... And my father...” My voice breaks.

“Your ability to be in control is impressive—as impressive as Bella was as a Newborn, as I said before,” Jasper says, still at Alice’s side. “If you could control yourself as well as you do at school...”

“It’s just a tickle,” I tell him. “I barely feel the burning sensation anymore.”

Jasper turns to Carlisle. “If, by next summer—after Beth has graduated and turned eighteen—we could reveal her to Christopher...”

“I don’t know,” Carlisle says. “Charlie was pretty willing to accept Bella’s change—with lack of the full story—and her living here, but that’s only because...”

“Only because I married Edward,” Bella says, shaking her head. “Other than the name you gave her, Beth has no ties to us. And if she’s found out now, you two could be arrested for kidnapping...”

“I’d see it coming,” Alice says softly. “And besides, there’s the psychological aspect to it. I mean, suppose we do wait to tell Christopher about Beth being alive. He’s friends with Charlie, right?”

“Yes,” Bella and I say at the same time.

“Maybe there’s a way to do it without alarming him or the authorities,” Carlisle says quietly, mulling it over. “Nothing has to be decided tonight. We’ll wait out the next few months, after Beth’s graduation. Is that all right with you, Beth?”

I nod. “Yes. I don’t want you getting into trouble on my account,” I tell him, leaning back into Esme’s arms again, comforted by her.

I soon excused myself to finish writing my essay—it was about the scandal involving Queen Victoria and Lord Melbourne—and found myself wondering if, perhaps, Alex would know anything about it. He’d lived with us for nearly three months now, so, due to his being an authority on the subject, I thought it right to ask him about it. I went to his room—in the attic which had been renovated for our cousins from Denali—to ask him. I found the walk easy—I merely walked a few paces down the corridor, and jumped up the ladder to the attic, cat-like, and stood, poised on the door paneling.

“No need to stop there,” Alex tells me, from where he is perched by the window.

I step inside, making my way towards him, my laptop in my arms. Coming to stand beside him, I can feel him shift slightly so as he is angled away from me. I decide to ignore it and produce my laptop, informing him of the subject matter and repeating word-for-word what our assignment is and how our conclusion should reflect what it means to us. I am pleased when Alex offers a first-hand account, and I modify it to sound more plausible to a typical audience. I am pleased with it, and decide to remain there if he will have me, finding myself content in his presence.

“How long did you stay on your own?” I ask softly.

“Quite some time,” he replies. “Before the Volturi wiped them all out, I stayed with some of the larger covens around the world. It was so wonderful to be a part of a big family. It was not difficult to get used to...”

“You had a big family?” I guessed.

He nods. “Yes. After my mother died when I was a teenager, I had to help support the family to my fullest. My father was a baker in Buckingham Palace, and I strove to aim as high as possible—I was such a haughty, greedy boy that when the Prince Consort got wind of my behavior, he sought to straighten me out.”

“What happened?” I wanted to know.

“I was fourteen when my mother died, and my father thought it was high time I quit regular education and began apprenticeship to him. It was long and tiring work—I never liked the concept of baking. I would rather pocket the sweets and eat them myself than work for my father. He was not a patient man, and if I did not do something per his instructions, he ordered the Master of Horse to have me whipped.” Without hesitation, he lifted his shirt completely off his body, and I saw lash marks upon his back.

“Alex!” I cried, shocked.

He nods. “If you have some sort of ailment or change upon you—short hair, like Alice; or like my whip marks—they remain with you after you’re turned,” he explains, not even bothering to put his shirt back on. “Thus, I was whipped regularly by him because I would not conform to his way of life.”

“But if you were a servant to Prince Albert at the time of your transformation,” I say, “why would you still have whip marks?”

“Depends upon how much and how hard one is whipped,” Alex replied patiently. “My father beat me regularly out of disappointment that I did not work alongside him.” At my perplexed expression, he goes on, “There was an understanding of hierarchy when it came to the kitchen staff. When my father died, or retired, I was expected to pick up where he left off and become the new baker. But I did not see myself kneading bread or baking cakes; I did not envision such a life for myself.”

“Did you see yourself with a beautiful woman?” I ask him softly, careful not to look at him as I press him. “A woman as lovely as Queen Victoria, perhaps? A woman to give you a great many children to spend your life with?”

“I was married,” Alex admits, softly.

I don’t even blink. “Were you?”

“Yes. I married at seventeen—your age—to a girl called Miss Emma Harrington. She was a lovely girl, and while I loved her, I was not in love with her. Her father, Sir John Harrington, was another favorite of Prince Albert’s—from Germany. Emma spotted me sneaking one of my father’s cakes one afternoon and, instead of turning me in, I offered to share it with her. I suppose she informed her father or somebody about the situation later, because I was soon summoned to Prince Albert’s rooms. Instead of kicking me out of the palace, he said that perhaps it would benefit everyone if I did not serve in the kitchens anymore. He then decided to employ me as a spy.”

“A spy?!” I demand. “Whatever for?!”

“There were rumors that Prince Albert, who later became King Edward the Seventh, was having an affair with an actress by the name of Nellie Clifden, and the queen and Prince Consort would have none of that. I accompanied Prince Albert to Cambridge where the Prince of Wales was, and, although history would have you believe differently, I was sent to become a friend to the prince and to spy for the Prince Consort. Prince Albert was far too ill to speak to his son; while in Cambridge, I was bought the clothes of a proper gentleman, despite being given the courtesy title of Sir Alexander Radclyffe—with a ‘Y’, not an ‘I’—and was dressed as a fine lord.”

“What happened with the Prince of Wales?” I asked.

“I merely informed him that we’re all men,” Alex replied simply. “He agreed to stop the affair—never confirming or denying that there was one—in order to appease his mother and father, although he detested them for it.”

I felt my insides twisting. “Do you mean to say that all men, despite apparent commitment to the kingdom or to their wives, took mistresses?” I whisper.

“Some did, of course. It was a standard practice for those days, as it is now.”

I lower my eyes. “Perhaps to some, yet if women dare to step outside of what men call ‘the marriage bed’, we are branded as sluts and whores,” I say, raising my eyes to his, “and forever ostracized from ‘goodly’ society.”

“You seem to feel quite strongly about all of this,” Alex observes.

“One must,” I reply.

“Your father or your mother?” he asks, understanding my meaning.

“My mother, of all people,” I reply. “She had to go to a psychologist to treat her postpartum psychosis in the months after giving birth to me.”

“What did she do?”

“Tried to kill me,” I replied. “Attempted to drown me half a dozen times, at least. She nearly burned me on the stove when she attempted to ‘cook’ while holding me...” I shake my head, shocked at her depravity. “Ups and downs are natural, I suppose, but this was anything but natural.”

“What happened?”

“She started sleeping with her therapist,” I reply, bitterly. “I was too young to really understand it all. She left my dad when I was about two, taking me with her. Dr. Quack, as I like to call him, bought a new practice down in San Francisco, California, and lived with us until I was about halfway done with elementary school. He then proposed to my mother, but she had another episode and we ran away again. We ran to Sherman Oaks where my mother finally followed up with the attorney for her family and managed to seize all the assets she was promised. The conditions were she either had to be married, at least thirty, or have a child. She’d followed up on a third of the bargain, so I was her bargaining chip to get her fortune. We bought a house and she enrolled me in private school; she also got a different psychotherapist—a woman—and actually got help...”

“Is that why you have all these walls up?”

I cross my arms, my nails biting into my elbows. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say, gritting my fangs together.

“You do,” Alex says. He reaches out then, putting his hand on my arm—it is the first time we have physically touched.

I find myself letting out a gasp; I don’t move away, nor do I move towards him. I cannot look at him, even though I am clearly on fire. Finally, I turn my head ever so slightly to look at Alex, and I find him so close to me. “What are you doing?” I whisper.

“Does it matter?” he asks.

“Yes,” I say back. “It means everything...”

Alex takes the opportunity to close the distance completely between us and brushes his lips with mine. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me to him, so as his body is up against mine. He manages to tip my neck back ever so slightly to get a better angle to my mouth, and our kiss deepens. His body feels wonderful pressed against mine, and I reach out to pull him closer to me as well.

Then, the thoughts ebb within me and I cannot do this. I consider him sleeping with me and then discarding me, and I know that I will never be able to live such a thing down. _It is too soon_, I think to myself. _Three months you’ve known him... No promises have been made, and no conversation_! _Don’t do this_!

I pull away from him then, making an excuse about finishing my essay. Although Alex is clearly disappointed, he allows me to leave his room and to go on my way. I return to my bedroom—which is really a moot point—and stand there, motionless and at a loss for what to do. My mind takes me back to the night of junior prom and my date, Sawyer Hathaway, one of those typical jock types from our all-male-high-school counterpart. Sawyer had never heard the word ‘no’ in his life, which cemented the first lie I’d told the Cullen family and I knew it wouldn’t be the last. Biting my lip and finding that it hurt, I’d remembered Sawyer fumbling with my dress, getting out the protection, and—despite my protests—taking away something that I hadn’t even wanted to give him.

I quickly emailed my completed essay to the homework website. I had to get away from here completely for a while. With winter break coming up after this weekend, I would only be missing a couple of days of school. _Besides, you can always manipulate the weather to be sunny_, I thought to myself. Quickly, I packed a bag—my laptop, clothes, phone charger, and other necessities—and stole out of my bedroom like a thief in the night.

I am now wearing my winter coat, hat, gloves, and snow boots as I slip outside, unheard, and walk stealthily across the snow to my car without slipping once. I hop inside, the full tank of gas staring back at me; I know that due to my fast driving and leaving at almost ten o’clock at night, I’ll be able to make it there by dawn at least. I’d left a note in my bedroom, telling the Cullen’s that I needed some space due to new developments, and I needed to figure some things out. Quickly, I turned on the car and left the property, making my way up the winding road—past the forest and the cottage that Edward and Bella lived in—and onto the main highway.

Hardly any cars passed through here, and I found comfort in that as I drove along the road in the darkness. I felt my eyes prick for what must’ve been the thousandth time that day, and I found I didn’t know very much about the world at all. Besides Forks and various cities in California, I’d never been anywhere in my life. This was my first adventure—well, my first adventure on my terms. I checked my brand-spanking-new GPS system, and soon discovered that I was indeed going in the right direction along the highway, and I hoped that, perhaps, I’d be able to be welcomed with open arms.

It was soon pitch black outside yet I found the darkness to be calm and welcoming to my psyche. I remembered those few good years with Mom, knowing full well that it was all too good to be true. And then she’d met Andy and her first priority—although she’d never admit it—was to make him happy. I’d managed to track her successfully from where she was—she was now on location with Andy somewhere in London—and it was reported in all the gossip magazines that the pair of them had gotten engaged. The following day, she was confirmed to be pregnant and—just a week ago—she reported to the media that she was expecting twin boys. I saw the tabloid pictures of her and merely saw her fresh face—probably a hidden endorsement for COVERGIRL or Revlon or Maybelline New York—and not at all like a woman who had only just lost her firstborn child.

Bella had managed to receive reports my father through hers over the last few months. If she and Edward believed that Charlie wasn’t being truthful enough, then Edward would glean the police chief’s mind further. By all accounts, he’d not stopped working, and his performance rate was higher than ever. He seemed to want to take on more and more dangerous missions, however, and really got a kick out of rescuing children and small animals from burning buildings. From what Edward had managed to glean from my own father’s mind directly was, quite simply, that he either wanted to get married and have more children or to simply adopt.

I thought it was wonderful that my father had managed to show grief appropriately. I just wish that the months would roll by quickly and I could somehow beg for my father’s forgiveness for ‘pretending’ to be dead all this time. I decided to inform Carlisle that it would be prudent if I simply lost my memory for all these months, as well as the fact that, due to the burns, I had to receive severe plastic surgery, resulting in my massively altered appearance. Humans, I’d learned over my past few months of being a vampire, we’re quite gullible creatures and—though I feared and loathed to trick my own father a second time —I knew it would be to both our benefit to have him in my life.

As the sun rose, I just made out the mountain of Denali, and found myself growing nervous as I made my way past it, then up the drive—hidden to the public—of where the Denali Coven had chosen to live. As I made my way up the embankment, I spotted two blonde women, a raven-haired woman, a man with jet-black hair who stood beside her, and a man with brown hair who stood beside one of the blondes. I parked a few feet away from him and got out of my car, hesitating for a moment.

The blonde standing alone stepped forward. “I am Tanya. How can I help you?”

“I am Beth Cullen,” I say, feeling odd at saying my new name outside of a school setting. “I am one of the newer members of the Olympic Coven.”

Eleazar steps forward. “And quite a powerful one, too,” he assesses quickly. “You are the one who can control the weather and manipulate objects. Your self-control is evident—not seen since Bella was turned... And your shield...remarkable.”

I nod. “I have those gifts.”

The second blonde steps forward; where Tanya’s hair is attractively curled, this girls’ hair is perpetually straight; the man who stands with her—her mate—is close behind her. “Show us your abilities,” she says, clearly not trusting me completely.

_Kate_, I deduce immediately; Bella had told me of the shocks that this girl could give, and yet, I wanted to see it for myself. I step forward then, remembering Edward’s warning about Kate’s ‘force field’ but I didn’t care. Maybe a night jolt or zap of something would wake me up from this eternal nightmare. I raise my hand to hers, and touch it—and it is exactly like touching a human hand. I find myself smiling at her, not feeling a thing, and Kate tenses, clearly putting her abilities on full blast, but to no avail.

“Shield. Nice,” she allows, pulling away. “Now, for the others.”

I raise my arms towards the skies, pointing my fingers towards them. Lightning erupted from my fingertips and filled the sky, sending lightning bolts bouncing off the nearby mountain. Mid-talent, I switched my ability to snow, and I could sense some raised eyebrows among me. Then, rain, and all of them covered their heads in shock—the raven-haired woman gasped in delight. Finally, I parted the clouds and permitted sun to rain down upon us, and we sparkled at one another.

“What about your telekinesis?” Kate asks.

Smiling, I decide to turn the tables on _her_. I manage to lift Kate effortlessly with my mind from the ground, bringing her higher and higher, and finally allowing to bounce all the way back down. I let her go about a foot off the ground, straight into a snow drift, and her clothes are quite wet immediately. I find I do not begin to laugh until everyone else does so, too, not wanting to laugh at my own joke.

“Garrett!” Kate screeches in anger, and her mate falls silent.

“You are quite talented,” says the raven-haired woman. “Carmen,” she tells me with a quick smile to her plum-colored lips.

“My better half,” Eleazar tells me. “Where is Edward? And his bride?”

I sigh, shaking my head. “The other Cullen’s are still in Forks,” I report. “That Nomad you kept with you for a time...”

“Alex?” Tanya asks.

I nod. “Yes. Him. He... He has made the living situation complicated and difficult. I was going to go out on my own...”

“No.” Tanya steps forward. “Carlisle and Esme have made you family—now you are ours, too. It will be wonderful to have another girl cousin. Books or clothes?”

I raise my eyebrows. “What?”

“Bella prefers books, but Alice and Rosalie would pick clothes any day,” Kate huffs, still covered a bit in snow. “It’d be nice to have a ratio.”

“Books,” I reply, immediately. “However, I’m not a slob. I want to look nice now and again but I don’t depend upon it.”

Carmen steps forward and puts an arm around me. “Then we shall get along just fine, dulce niña,” she tells me. “Come. You shall have Irina’s room while you are here,” she says as Eleazar and Garrett automatically wander to my car to get my bag. “I trust you know full well who Irina is, Beth?”

I nod. “Yes, of course. I’m terribly sorry.”

She smiles. “I should think that you would be sorry. You have a kind heart,” she replies. “It will all work itself out—your problems. I know it.”

I smile. “Can you see into the future, like Alice?”

Carmen giggles as we head up the stairs. “I only possess the basics and self-control,” she replies easily. “One’s gifts aren’t earned, they simply appear.”

“One would think kindness in and of itself would be one,” I say quietly as Carmen opens a door in the center of the long hallway.

“You seem to be quite kind,” Carmen tells me.

I sigh. “I’m not,” I tell her. “I’ve lied to my father...”

“Yes, Carlisle called Tanya and she relayed to us what happened. It may have not been a kind thing, Beth, but it was a _considerate_ thing. Newborns have no self-control—save for you and Bella—but it was too risky to chance it. What if one thing had gone wrong and it had ended badly? At least he is safe.”

I nod. “Yes,” I whisper, finding myself looking out the window at the rather impressive view Irina’s bedroom had to offer. “But at what cost?”


	3. Run, Baby, Run

_Dad and I get into the car and make our way down the street before turning onto another that will lead us to the main road. The streets are slick with fallen rain and there are some bits of evergreen in the street itself, but Dad is careful to drive around it. He tells me that Forks High School is not too far away, and that he can take me on his way into the fire station in the mornings, promising me to take me out to Port Angeles on the first weekend when school resumes in September to buy me a car. I balk at that, telling him that Mom gave me a couple thousand for the car, and Dad says that he will merely add to the amount —totaling around four thousand and change._

_We reach the main street without difficulty, and pull closer to a battered-looking hotel, which Dad tells me houses one of the best restaurants in town. I don’t object or comment much, just mention that the place—located on the water, hence the name Creekside—has a rustic look to it. We step inside and he addresses the waitress, Melissa, by name, and then tells me that she’s the manager there. I don’t question him and we’re shown to a table by the window, where Dad orders a beer and some vegan curry, while I opt to start my meal with the clam chowder and a cranberry juice; Melissa smiles and slips away._

_My father is a tall man—nearly six-foot-five—and has a country boy air about him. He has the same raven hair I do, yet I got my eyes from my mother’s mother, Diana. His skin is pale yet rugged-looking, and, whenever he’s not working, he takes a page from Charlie Swan’s fashion handbook and wears a pair of jeans and a flannel, along with brown work boots, so you know he’s ready for anything. He is clean-shaven, although in the early pictures I’ve seen of the pair of us—pre-age-three—he had a full mustache, like that of Charlie Swan. While taller and stronger than Charlie, I know the pair of them did pretty much everything together growing up, and that I shouldn’t discriminate against him—his daughter, maybe—and be as polite as possible in mixed company._

_Melissa comes over with his curry and my chowder, as well as our drinks, and we thank her before she returns to her post._

_Dad’s own father, Grandpa Theodore, who died when I was in elementary school, owned a local farm, which seemed to produce everything from wool to cheese. They were a no-kill farm—milking cows instead of slaughtering them; having chickens lay instead of serving them for Sunday dinner. While Dad loved the farm life, his older brother, Richard, called Ricky, took it over as he was the oldest sibling out of all the Partridge family. Dad and Uncle Ricky also had one younger sister, Claire, who moved to Seattle when she got married to a rich architect who designed skyscrapers._

_“Will you be needing books for school?” Chris asks._

_I nearly giggle over my chowder. “No, Dad. Public schools usually give you your own books, but sometimes not AP classes.”_

_“What’s an AP class?” he asks._

_“Advanced placement,” I reply patiently._

_Dad nods. “Of course—don’t know where you possibly got your intelligence from. My I.Q. test back in high school was around one-ten.”_

_“That’s average, Dad,” I say quickly. “You shouldn’t be upset for being average—a lot of the population is.”_

_“What were you?” he asks._

_I lower my eyes. “One hundred and sixty-seven,” I say softly._

_“See? There you go,” Dad says, eating his curry. “Quick, eat your chowder before it gets cold. It’s no good cold.”_

_I eat my chowder and order the roast chicken dinner while Dad orders the New York strip steak, clearly proud of himself for getting something all-American. When dessert is offered, Dad quickly puts in an order for the maple pot de crème, while I opt for the vegan chocolate brownie, which is reportedly served warm. I don’t normally get dessert, but give in when Dad claims that I should do so. We order two more drinks and Dad asks Melissa for the bill, and I notice that whenever she leaves the table, she’s blushing._

_It is raining when we leave the restaurant around half an hour later, and Dad hurries the two of us to the car for the quick drive home. “Melissa seems nice,” I say casually as we shut the car doors and head down the main road._

_“Yeah. She’s a good friend to have in my corner, I suppose.”_

_I nod at that; she was quite pretty, and certainly my father’s type; she had pale brown hair, marble skin, and silver eyes. She seemed to favor clothes which hugged her hourglass figure, yet they weren’t considered controversial by societal standards. “She’s pretty,” I remark as we get closer to our street._

_“Sure, if that sort of thing means anything to you,” Dad replies._

_I blink. “Didn’t you find Mom attractive?” I ask him._

_He nods. “Of course—why do you think I dated her?”_

_I shrug. “Do you regret not marrying her?” I ask._

_“I regret that your grandparents regretted our decision not to marry. Your Uncle Ricky certainly didn’t mind—hell, he thought it made everything far simpler. Your Aunt Claire didn’t really care either—if the commitment was real. Ricky’s going to have his annual fall harvest get-together in a few weeks; Claire and her husband, Albert, are coming in from Seattle to attend.”_

_“We’re expected, then?” I ask._

_He nods. “We are.”_

_“Where does he live again?” I want to know. “Really weird city name...”_

_“Chimacum,” Dad replies easily. “It’s directly on the other side of the Olympic National Forest—small town; smaller than this, about two thousand less.”_

_“Too small for you, Dad?”_

_He chuckles as we near our house. “Maybe. I certainly didn’t balk at the opportunity to move here to become fire chief.”_

_“Where did you meet Mom again?”_

_“Seattle,” he replies. “She was up there checking out the university when she and I met. I remember Albert was there designing a building—he and Claire were just dating then—and that’s why I went down there. I remember that it was just amazing that she and I even ran into each other at all—big city, Seattle.”_

_“What happened?”_

_“We went out to dinner at this dive bar that Albert knew—The 5 Point Café. I remember thinking I’d never had a better burger or chili in my life, and the pie was amazing. Your mom was staying at a hotel nearby and Claire and Albert went back to his apartment while I gave your mom a ride home. We exchanged numbers and the following month—after talking non-stop on the phone—she decided to continue college by mail and moved here to be with me.”_

_“Was it the right thing to do?”_

_“What?” Dad asked, pulling into our driveway._

_“Getting together with Mom and...having me. Did you even want kids?”_

_“I always did,” Dad replies, reaching out and tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “But I didn’t know you were a possibility until I met your mother.”_

_“What do you mean?” I ask._

_He sighs. “Sweetheart, that first night... It didn’t end with a kiss.”_

_“What?” I ask, confused._

_“That first night, your mom and I conceived you,” Dad replied simply._

. . .

I remain standing at my window, looking at my impressive view, for hours; long after the sun sets, I finally permit myself to move around, unpacking the small bag I’ve brought for this trip. I suppose ‘roughing it’ is what I’m doing, considering that I’ve only packed enough for a week. I’ll have to return to the Cullen’s house—well, I suppose now it’s ‘home’—at some point to get more. I also suppose that I can use the credit card they’ve given me, and I know I wouldn’t feel right about robbing a bank.

I go downstairs in the impressive house and make my way past the kitchen and into the living room, knowing that I must thank my hosts for their generous hospitality. They seem to be waiting for something in the living room, and Tanya immediately perks up when I step inside of it. Her curls bounce ever so slightly as she gets to her feet, and reaches out to take me by the hands.

“Come. We are going on a hunt.”

I’d been unaware of extreme thirst during my time as a vampire—but I’d not fed in nearly two days, which was not advisable for a Newborn vampire. My throat burned and Tanya took me outside, Kate and Garrett, and Eleazar and Carmen following. As soon as we’d hit the snow, we all six tore through the trees; I was neck and neck with Eleazar, Kate, and Garrett—due to my Newborn status, I would be slightly faster than most vampires for quite a while. Tanya then slipped ahead and raised her hand, poised; as the leader of the coven, she called the shots when it came to a hunt.

“A few male grizzly bears, close to the mountain,” Tanya whispers.

“No cubs?” I clarify.

“Cubs are the best,” Kate puts in, clearly annoyed at my question.

“No. No cubs,” Tanya assures me.

I nod, lifting my head. “I can smell them, too,” I reply, in awe of the clean, clearer scent one can get so close to a mountain. I turn ever so slightly, and hesitate; even though I’m merely their guest, I’ve taken the Cullen name, so that amounted for something, didn’t it? Still, I hesitated, one hand placed upon an evergreen tree, and waited.

Eleazar steps forward then. “Tanya, perhaps, due to Beth’s Newborn status, she could lead us in the hunt for the bears. Her strength and abilities could lead us there faster and for a quicker kill, due to her reported agility.”

Tanya raises her eyebrows and turns back to me. “Yes,” she replies meticulously. “Why don’t you lead us, Beth?”

“Okay. Sure,” I say, turning back to the scent of the animals and straightening myself. The moment their scent enters my nostrils, I can picture the terrain around them, as well as deduce their exact coordinates based on where the six of us stand.

Bracing myself, I launch myself forward, leaping over snow drifts and through the trees, whiteness all around us potentially blinding to a human, but it seems to enhance our surroundings as I make my way through the darkness. I feel the five other vampires behind me, trusting me, as I lead them to the base of the mountain, and quickly find that the bears to which Tanya was referring have made a bachelor pack, and I hold out my arm to stop them, debating my next move. Finally, I decide to motion to all of them to pick a bear and launch myself forward a second time, capturing a particularly fat specimen—who seems to be the leader of the troop—and is not pleased. I manage to find his throat and tear it open quickly and efficiently, savoring every drop of this Alaskan mammal’s blood. I let the bear loose when I’ve drained it, the impressive skin slumping—lifeless—into a heap at my feet, and I manage to kick some snow around it.

Returning to the Denali’s house, I am quite shocked to see something moving about in the living room, and, as we enter the house, am perplexed to see Carlisle, Esme, Edward, Bella, and Alex all grouped in the living room. Tanya greets each of them warmly in turn, and I notice that she stares a bit regretfully at Edward and Bella, and I immediately suspect that she wished to be mated with Edward, but it hadn’t worked out. Carmen, quickly assessing the situation, ushers everyone upstairs so as I am standing alone in the living room with my new family.

Esme puts a hand on Carlisle’s shoulder, and Carlisle, Edward, and Alex slip outside and run off into the trees, presumably looking for some caribou, because I know Edward has a taste for the wild side a bit. Esme, Bella, and I stand there in silence; there is no need to sit, but it feels awkward—emotionally—standing around like this, doing and saying nothing at all. Minutes passed, and soon I’d seen the clocks’ hands move four numbers worth across the clocks’ face, and still, it was silent.

Esme deduces quickly that I may not wish to talk with Bella in the room and, with one look, tells her to join the boys for a hunt in the Alaskan wilderness. Despite my closeness with Bella, she smiles at me like she understands and slips out. I knew her to be clumsy as a human—by all accounts—but she slips outside and hops from the porch and onto the snow-covered ground with the grace and agility of a dancer. It is a skill which I know I myself possess, but I find myself terribly ordinary for having it now.

“Carlisle and I were worried about you,” Esme says softly, when she is sure that we are completely alone.

“I left a note...” I say softly, as any teenager would.

Esme smiles. “Yes, we know. Alice was able to figure out where you went.” She sighs. “We went through a sort of rebellion phase with Edward. He went off by himself and tasted human blood for the first time...” Esme sighs a second time. “Is that something you’re interested in doing, Beth? Tasting human blood.”

I lower my eyes. “Of course I’m interested, Esme. I’m only a vampire, after all,” I reply. “But I wouldn’t do it, because that is not who I am...”

“Who do you think you are, then?” she asks, not unkindly.

I sigh. “I think I’m a girl who hasn’t ever been anywhere,” I admit. “I saw this as an opportunity to get out and do something with my life...” I shrug. “I just wanted to get out of the tristate area, I guess...”

Esme smiles. “And you can do that. Carlisle talked it over with Tanya and the rest of them and they’ve agreed to let you stay here until the vacation is over...”

“No, that’s fine,” I say quickly. “I think that maybe just twenty-four hours is all the rebellion I need for right now. Maybe the summer after graduation...”

Esme smiles. “Where do you want to go? Carlisle and I will let you go wherever you want after you graduate.”

“London,” I reply. “I want to see London and Scotland and Ireland more than anything.”

She grins. “Well, you can...” She hesitates. “So, will you be coming back with us tonight? Or do you want to stay here for a while?”

“I’ll come back with you,” I reply. “I still need to get my Christmas shopping done,” I tell her with a grin.

Esme smiles. “All right. I’ll help you pack, and then you can drive us back.”

After I’ve packed, Carlisle, Edward, Bella, and Alex get into Carlisle’s car while Esme gets into the passenger seat of my car. We all wave to the Denali’s as we drive off, and the house gets smaller in the distance as we travel down the dark road. I make my way down it carefully, despite my acute senses, and follow Carlisle’s car as we make our way down to the highway to get back to Forks.

“Why did you run?” Esme asks softly.

I shrug. “I guess I just wanted some time to think things over.”

“What do you need to think about?” Esme asks.

I feel self-conscious for a moment before I force myself to speak. “I asked Alex for some help on a Victorian-era essay I had to write,” I reply.

“Seems logical,” Esme replies. “He’s from that time, after all.”

I shake my head. “Yeah, it seemed logical at the time...I don’t know. Things got rather strange, especially when we got on the topic of mistresses.”

Esme laughs. “Mistresses?! He’s quite old-fashioned, isn’t he?”

I nod. “Yes, it seems he is. Anyhow, he made it seem like it was all okay, having a mistress and all that and...” I shake my head. “I don’t know what happened...”

“What happened?” Esme asked softly.

I grip the steering wheel as I manage to navigate myself appropriately behind Carlisle’s car and not slide into a ditch off the road. “Alex and I kissed,” I reply.

“Do you think that you two will...?”

I sigh. “It would be far simpler if we were to, wouldn’t it?” I ask her. “But no, I don’t think so, Esme, really I don’t.”

“Why’s that?” she wants to know.

I shake my head. “He’s just not right for me. I have to find the right person myself, and I can’t do that stuck in Forks. As soon as I graduate, I’m going to the UK to see what that’s all about and maybe I can go to college there or something...”

“You’ve been accepted into every university you’ve applied to, based on the false documentation we’ve provided the schools of your previous education...”

“Which really isn’t terribly false, isn’t it? We just changed some phone numbers around and used my information,” I say softly.

“Jasper certainly does know how to charm the universities,” Esme says. “You got another stack of letters in your absence.”

I smile. “Well, let’s just hope one in particular comes.”

“You have a dream school?”

“In the U.S. and the UK,” I reply.

“What are they?”

“Dartmouth for here, Oxford for the UK,” I reply. “Their weather and climate are like the State of Washington, so it’s not like I’d be lacking in anything.”

“Do you honestly like the weather here?” she asks. “Bella doesn’t.”

I smile at that. “Yes—I absolutely adore it. Rain is...peaceful to me.”

Esme smiles. “Yes, rain does work as a cleanser of sorts.” She leans back ever so slightly in the passenger seat. “If and when you do go to university, have you given any thought to what you may want to do degree-wise? You have all the time in the world.”

I nod. “I know. Maybe I could write books under an assumed name and hire someone drop dead gorgeous to be the face of it all...”

Esme laughs. “Well, you certainly have a flair for language. I caught a glimpse of that last essay you wrote. It was as if I was really there.”

“That was all thanks to Alex,” I reply.

“You’re sure he’s not it?” she asks. “You’re sure he’s not the one?”

I grip my steering wheel tighter. “It’s too soon to tell, Esme, but if we’re betting on this sort of thing, I’d say ‘no’.”

She nods. “Well, your destiny is up to you now.”

“I know.”

She briefly takes my hand and squeezes it. “Once you’ve finished high school, if you want to go off on your own for a while, Carlisle and I would support that. To the outside world, you’d be eighteen, so authorities wouldn’t be able to bat an eye.”

“Thankfully,” I reply.

. . .

Christmas was a spectacular affair at the Cullen household. The only absentees were Alice and Jasper, who went to visit old friends of Jasper’s, called Peter and Charlotte, part of the newborn army Jasper had been involved with. The third absentee came in the form of Alex who went to celebrate Christmas in Alaska with the Denali’s. I was deemed safe enough to formally meet Jacob and Renesmee—I say it in that order because Jacob insisted upon meeting me first to determine my safeness around his wife. While I understood his reasons completely, I did not appreciate all the fuss that was being made over what should have been a simple introduction.

Jacob came directly to the house, while Renesmee went to the cottage to see Bella and Edward beforehand. Carlisle and Esme stood on either side of me, while Emmett and Rosalie hovered nearby in case I lost control. It was a bit of an inconvenience because Jasper was not here to calm me down, but he’d walked me through certain things before he’d left with Alice the afternoon before. He explained that I’d been remarkable in my training and that I was truly a unique breed and that he—and the rest of the Cullen family—had complete confidence in me.

Jacob walked in through the front door and came up the flight of stairs and into the living room, where I and the rest of the Cullen’s were gathered. There was a prominent noble fir tree in the background—they’d bought this particular fir this year because it was the only fir tree my sensitive mother could stand without sneezing. Emmett, Rosalie, Carlisle, and I had journeyed deeper into the woods after a hunt and picked this one out, which now had its branches filled with brightly covered orbs. Beneath it was a festive tree skirt—made by Esme—and upon the skirt there were dozens of gifts. By the mantelpiece and fireplace were twelve stockings—for Carlisle, Esme, Edward, Bella, Renesmee, Jacob, Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, Alice, Alex, and me—which hung from the beam with care. There was a holiday runner on top of the mantle, as well as upon the dining room table, and there were red, white, and green candles on every surface.

Jacob uncharacteristically—according to Emmett, who believed that this particular young man was serious at every turn—smiled at me as we made eye contact. Maybe it was the holiday season; maybe he just wanted to put my mind at ease before I was formally introduced to Renesmee. “You must be Beth,” he said, putting out a hand.

Immediately, I was hit with a wet-dog smell and, had I been human, I would have probably choked. “Damn,” I say, reaching out and shaking his hand. “You really do stink...”

Jacob and Emmett laugh heartily, while Carlisle and Esme politely chuckle, and Rosalie makes a sound of disdain. “You got the Cullen blood, huh?” he asks.

I laugh at that. “So I’ve been told. Nice to meet you, Jacob.”

“So what can you do?” Jacob asks, curiously. “I know that some of you have supernatural abilities and whatnot—except for these guys,” he says.

Emmett shrugs. “Can’t beat my strength,” he says, flexing.

“Charming,” Rosalie puts in, wrinkling her nose.

“Perhaps a demonstration for Jacob isn’t such a bad idea,” Carlisle says softly. “What do you think?” he asks, turning to Esme.

“Provided that Beth does so _outside_,” Esme replies, “I see nothing wrong with it.”

I get to my feet, knowing that I won’t do any harm to potential prey that smells like some sort of dog left out in the rain. I make my way past Carlisle and Esme and slip past Rosalie and Emmett while Jacob trails along behind like the mutt he is. Once outside, I see that the snow around us will make for the perfect color as I raise my hand, just as Edward, Bella, and Renesmee come into view. While Renesmee smells wonderful, I find myself surprisingly untempted by her scent as I continue raising my hand into the air. Immediately as I’ve willed it to, intricate snowflakes come forth from my fingers as Jacob and Renesmee watch from afar, captivated at my skills.

“That’s...”

“Amazing,” Renesmee says, speaking for the first time and completing Jacob’s thought. “I guess my theory was wrong...”

“What theory?” Carlisle asks as Edward chuckles, and I know immediately that he knows what Renesmee is talking about.

“Dad, quit the mind reading for two seconds, _please_!” Renesmee said. “This is almost as bad as when you read Jacob’s mind on the night of our honeymoon...”

“You promised you _weren’t_ going to do that!” Bella admonishes.

“Hold up,” I say, cutting off the snow. “What theory?”

“That only vampires with special abilities and not just the basic ones can create others with special abilities,” Renesmee replies. “I suppose it was stupid to think otherwise. I mean you, Carlisle... You created my dad and Esme and look what happened? He can read minds and she can...design houses...”

Esme laughs. “Something that any human could do, sweetheart.”

“Yes, but not always perfectly well,” Renesmee says, crossing her arms.

“Babe, don’t be upset,” Jacob says, putting an arm around her, and Edward makes a face before turning away.

“Is that _all_ you can do?” demands a voice from in between the trees, and three guys, along with a young woman, step out. “Please. A magician could do that.”

Jacob sighs. “Embry, easy,” he says before turning to me. “Beth, this is Embry Call,” he tells me, nodding to the guy who spoke—he is of Native American decent and has large brown eyes which take up most of his face. “That’s Quil Ateara,” Jacob continues, nodding to a second guy with curly, dark hair and smaller eyes. “That’s Seth Clearwater...”

“Also known as my uncle,” Renesmee puts in, smiling and waving at Seth, who rolls his eyes in a playful manner.

“And that’s...”

“Leah Clearwater,” says the only woman in the group. She had above-the-shoulder length black hair and resembles an older, female version of Seth. “Nice to meet you, I guess, Beth. I think your ability seems pretty cool.”

I smile at Leah, knowing that she normally could’ve been short-tempered, but it was nice to be complimented nonetheless. “Thanks, Leah,” I reply.

“I still say magic trick,” Embry puts in, snidely.

“Jacob, how endurant are you guys?” I ask him, tired of Embry’s comments.

Jacob raises his eyebrows. “Pretty endurant. When I first imprinted on Renesmee, Bella accidentally threw Seth against a tree,” he says. “For the record, she was aiming for me at the time...”

“What happened?” I ask, turning to Seth.

“One half of my body was shattered,” Seth admits.

“Good to know,” I reply, turning all my attention onto Embry, who laughs. “Like heights, Embry?” I ask him.

He shrugs. “I don’t know.”

“No? How about roller coasters?”

“Sure, I guess...”

“Good. Don’t blink,” I tell him and lift him into the air effortlessly as Quil looks shocked, Seth looks amazed, and Leah looks amused.

“Needed to be taken down a peg,” Leah puts in.

I flip Embry over and over a few times in the air, amid his shouts for me to stop. I find I am giggling and continue to do so, not giving up. “I think an apology is due here, Embry!” I call up to him.

“Not happening!” he shouts back.

“Embry!” Jacob shouts. “Come on, man...”

“Dammit, no!” Embry screams, and I turn him upside down.

“Carlisle,” Esme says softly.

“Beth,” Carlisle says to me.

“Don’t let her stop now!” Edward nearly shouts like a boy would at a circus. “This is really entertaining... Too bad Beth wasn’t around when Jacob imprinted on Renesmee...”

I smirk upwards at Embry. “Come on, Embry. It’s just three little words: ‘I’m sorry, Beth’,” I say to him, tantalizingly.

“Fine, fine! I’m sorry!” he shouts.

“Who are you apologizing to, Embry?” I ask him.

“You, you!”

“Yes,” I reply. “Now say it.”

“I’m sorry, Beth, really!”

“Okay... What are you sorry for?” I ask, lowering him slightly but not turning him back to his natural position.

“Oh, for the love of... I’m sorry I said your abilities were like magic tricks... Clearly, they’re not and I was being rude. I should really watch out for that and I’m trying better at it, really, I swear! Please, I’m sorry, Beth. Will you put me down now, please?!” he begs, his voice cracking slightly at the end.

I sigh. “Fine,” I mutter, dropping him about a foot and a half from the ground, after flipping him over because I’m not a complete devil. “So, there you have it, my powers,” I say to Jacob before turning back to Embry. “Thanks for being such a _wonderful_ guinea pig!” I gush, and clap my hands at him as he slips back behind a tree. I watch as he throws off his clothes and shapeshifts, his lithe werewolf form slipping further and further into the trees.

“Well,” Carlisle says, attempting to eliminate the tension in the air, “who here is up for some Christmas presents?”

. . .

I was shocked when Carlisle and Esme revealed one of my presents: They’d gotten my car reupholstered with pink leather interior. I also had the latest GPS navigation system, along with a new cell phone, flat screen, laptop, and tickets to a Caribbean cruise that would take place during my spring break. Plus, there were new snow boots, scarves, hats, gloves, and a new goose-down jacket that I’d seen in a European fashion magazine that Alice just happened to leave lying around. The icing on the cake was two rather large envelopes from Dartmouth and Oxford who, along with every other university I’d applied for, had formally accepted me into their institutions. I spent the rest of Christmas drafting my formal essay for Oxford, telling them enthusiastically that I’d look forward to moving to London and taking classes there in the fall.

Alice and Jasper returned from their visit with Peter and Charlotte two days later, with a very happy Alice confessing that they’d also gone to Italy—not on a formal visit to the Volturi, of course—and bought even more clothes for everyone. Alice, who believes that you should _always_ be prepared—bought me a complete wardrobe to wear to London, as she looked ahead and saw what would be ‘in’ when I moved there. She also bought me a dress for my graduation and its party, which she was dead-set on throwing. She told me that while I would be the undisputed guest of honor, Esme told her that, when the time came, that it would have to be a joint party for me and Alex, as such a thing would be impolite otherwise.

Alex himself returned from the Denali’s at the end of the week, just three days before school was due to start again. Why school began again just one day after New Year’s I didn’t know, and I pitied the humans who would stay awake, partying it up until after midnight in the hopes of locking lips with some jock. Alex and I had been invited to the same high school party, and amid Esme’s concerns to ‘be safe’, Alice dressed me and Alex for the party. I was ordered to wear a strapless black dress, knee-length, which hugged my figure everywhere. I also wore one of those necklaces which just seems to be a piece of black velvet which wraps completely around your neck. My chunky black heels finished the look, and I was surprised that I didn’t stumble in them. Rosalie stepped up and volunteered to do my hair, putting large curls into it.

Alex himself allowed Alice to dress him in an informal suit and I found myself tapping my feet impatiently as I waited for him outside. I found I could make a bit of a warm bubble around me with my shield, so I wasn’t completely freezing when Alex _finally_ brought himself outside. We drove through the snowy night in silence, making our way to Merchants Road, where the lovely house was located. We parked on the street just outside and, as we entered, heard the speakers blaring away.

Minerva—called Minnie—St. Clair, who had moved to the area about two and a half years before, was the undisputed queen bee of the school. She had a taste for music from the 1980’s, which wasn’t all bad, and a passion for tight leather dresses, which were never lost on the boys at school, even Alex. _Talk Dirty to Me _by Poison was blaring in our ears, as part of Minnie’s playlist, as we entered the house, and it dawned on me: Minnie definitely saw these parties as an opportunity for people to get into her pants. Shaking the thought from my mind, I politely refused some of the punch offered, and watched as Alex did the same from where he stood glued to my hip. When Minnie, already drunk, requested a game of spin the bottle, a beer bottle was produced and we were all permitted to stand, because who really knew the past time these carpets had been cleaned?

Minnie spun first and it landed on fellow senior Jackson Michaelson, who gladly stepped forward to lock lips with Minnie, who didn’t look put off at all. She looked around then and her eyes locked on me. “You! Beth! You go next!” she demanded.

Shrugging, I leaned down and spun the green bottle, and it landed on Seymour Franklin and I shrugged it off, stepping forward to the too-excited teenage boy and kissed him. I turned back and went to my place, and saw that Alex looked angry, the rage bubbling just beneath the surface. When Minnie told Alex to go next, I thought nothing of it as he spun the bottle and it landed on—big surprise—her. Minnie giggled with delight and pulled Alex into the center of the circle, kissing him with passion.

I shrugged that off, too. It was a kiss—it didn’t mean anything, did it? After spin-the-bottle died down, truth or dare was played, but everyone—well, the girls—drew the line at seven minutes in heaven. The beat picked up again and we all danced nonchalantly and I ended up going onto the balcony, pulling my cardigan on so as I wouldn’t look too inconspicuous for everyone’s taste. A senior came out and warmed his hands, and I found myself raising my eyebrows at him—he was good-looking enough, and had moved to Forks before starting elementary school; his name was Theo, like my grandfather, and he had a very handsome look about him.

“Liking Forks?” Theo asked.

I smiled. “Who wouldn’t love a small town?” I ask him.

Theo laughs. “You got me there.”

“You a country boy at heart?”

He nods. “I guess so. I was born in Dallas, but the heat didn’t agree with me. Then when Dad got the lawyer job up here, Mom started working at the hospital... Things just sort of fell into place... Your dad works at the hospital, right?”

“Carlisle? Yeah,” I say.

“Right, Carlisle—Dr. Cullen. Nice guy. He adopted you, didn’t he?”

I nod. “Yeah.”

“What’s the story there?” Theo asks, not unkindly.

I shake my head. “It’s long and sad and boring... You don’t want to know.”

“Sure, I do,” Theo says, smiling kindly at me.

“All right, you asked for it,” I tell him. “Well, I was born in New York, but my bio mom and dad relocated to Portland by the time I was three, so no accent really stuck,” I tell him. “My dad was like Carlisle’s younger brother, and I didn’t grow up coming here, but Carlisle and Esme kept coming down to see me and them for years.” I smile at the fictitious memory. “My dad didn’t have siblings growing up and Carlisle sort of stepped in and helped with the loneliness—my grandparents were of the working generation so my dad would go over to Carlisle’s parent’s house on the daily after school to hang out and stuff. Then when my dad met my mom and Carlisle met Esme things kind of got out of touch for a while. Then my dad got sick and my mom had to take care of him constantly...” I sigh. “He... My dad had pretty bad cancer—stage four heart,” I tell Theo. “When Dad died when I was about twelve, it was just me and my mom for a few years there. Then she got remarried and the guy seemed nice but sort of...beat her up,” I continue, shuddering on cue. “He knocked her so hard against the wall one night that he caused bleeding on her brain. I remember my hands shaking as I called the cops and he was hauled away from there... My mom was put into a medically induced coma but there was nothing the doctors could do. I was listed as next of kin and since I was over sixteen but younger than eighteen, Carlisle, as my legal guardian, stepped in and told the doctors to shut off the machines. Then he and Esme took me home and I haven’t looked back...”

Theo shakes his head. “Dammit. I’m so sorry.”

I shrug. “Hey, it is what it is.”

“Man... Now I really feel bad for every moment I ever told my mom or dad that I hated them or something...”

I reach out and touch his arm. “Hey, we all feel that way. When Carlisle and Esme took me in, I destroyed my room and my lungs nearly exploded when I demanded to know why all this had happened to me,” I reply, feeling relieved at telling some form of the truth. “I yelled at my parents that I hated their guts for dying like that.”

“So, only child?” Theo asks.

I laugh. “Not anymore. I have three brothers and three sisters now, plus a niece,” I tell him, and find I like being a part of such a big family.

“Right, of course. And what’s the story with Alex?”

“Pardon?”

“Alex. Doesn’t he live with you guys?”

“Yeah. He’s in foster care,” I reply, giving Alex’s cover story. “Carlisle and Esme are thinking about adopting him but he’s going to age out of the system by the end of the year anyway...”

“Tough break,” Theo says.

I nod. “Yeah, pretty much.”

“There’s a rule about foster siblings and real siblings dating, right?” Theo asks. “I mean, I think I heard somewhere that kids can get in trouble for that sort of thing...”

“What are you asking?” I ask Theo, aware of the effect I can have on teenage boys, now that I embody what society has deemed ‘perfect’.

Theo grins down at me. “I’m asking if you’re with Alex.”

I smile at him. “No,” I reply. “I’m not.” From the corner of my eye, I can see Alex gripping and successfully destroying his red solo cup before crossing the room and grabbing Minnie, who squeals, yet succumbs to his kiss.

Oddly, even though Alex is not my mate, I find myself shocked at this thing that I construe to be betrayal. Turning back to Theo I smile up at him. “Well, would you maybe want to possibly...?”

I close the final step of distance between us and throw my arms around him and kiss him and find I am not averse to his lips on mine. I find that while there is clear physical attraction there, on an emotional level there is nothing, while with Alex, there was clearly _something_. I give Theo my number before checking my watch, finding that it is after midnight and that Alex and I must be back to the house. I haul him out of the party and into my car, seething as I make a sharp U-turn and make our drive down the main street and out of town, into the woods.

“What the hell is your problem?!” demands Alex as I do my very best not to swerve along the ice-covered roads.

I grip my steering wheel. “Kissing sluts—not bad. Maybe next time you can kiss a nun!” I shout at him.

Alex blinks. “Excuse me, but you told that tool that we weren’t a thing, so where do you get off acting like this?”

“I haven’t closed the book on us being a thing, you know,” I growl back.

“You seemed to,” Alex replies.

“When?!” I demand, taking my eyes off the road.

“Road!” screams Alex and I turn back to it.

“When? Tell me. I’m waiting.”

He sighs. “When you ran off to Denali and then came back—you told Esme that it was not going to happen between us.”

“Eavesdropping?” I mutter. “Wow. Another offense.”

“I thought we had something,” Alex tells me. “Why did you potentially close the book before we found out what that something was?”

“You don’t intend to be monogamous,” I reply. “While that might be cool for some people, Alex, it’s not for me. No thank you.”

“Well, I really think that...”

We are cut off by a police siren behind us, and I roll my eyes, knowing that I am clearly speeding in a twenty-mile-an-hour zone. Pulling off into the shoulder, I bark at Alex to hand over my registration paperwork while I take out my license from my new Italian clutch and roll down my window, thankful for my new goose down coat. I know that the officer will inevitably check my pupils for alcohol or drugs, and I feel confident that I didn’t make any ‘poor choices’ that evening. Well, consuming them, at the very least, and then I wondered what possible benefits I could have from either...

“License and registration, please,” says an eerily familiar voice.

Forcing myself to remain composed, I hand over the card and documentation, and wait for Chief Charlie Swan to successfully I.D. me. I keep my eyes down until he shines the light into them, and I see in his eyes he makes the connection. I don’t call him on it, but I know he feels the need to say something.

“Elizabeth Cullen,” he says.

“Chief Swan,” I reply.

Chief Swan sighs. “Beth, your dad’s a wreck,” he tells me. “Carlisle signed a coroner’s report telling him and the town that you were dead.”

I lower my eyes. “I know.”

“Man, I know that living with a dad all by yourself can’t be very appealing to you, Beth, but I really think...”

I reach out and touch his arm, and he stiffens at its natural coldness. “Charlie...please. I know that you know that Bella had to change...”

He nods. “Yes.”

“Well, suffice it to say I had to change, too. I would’ve _really_ died otherwise,” I tell him. “I know it’s hard, but I will tell him, after graduation when I turn eighteen. You can’t tell him anything, Charlie—please.”

“Beth, I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to...”

“...go home right now,” says an English accent, and a young man suddenly appears from out of nowhere, placing his hand upon Chief Swan’s arm and a thick steam seems to come forth and into the man’s hand. “Go along, now, Chief Swan.”

Chief Swan blinks, handing over my documentation and walking blindly back to his police cruiser, whereupon he starts the engine effortlessly and drives down the main street towards his own house.

“Thank you,” I say softly.

The man pulls back his hood of his snow jacket, to reveal a face of beauty. “No problem, really,” he says politely. He has thick brown hair and golden eyes, so I quickly know that he practices vegetarianism. “Richard Kingsley,” he says, putting out his hand. “I’m from London if you couldn’t tell. How do you do?”

“Beth... Elizabeth Cullen,” I say. “That’s Alex Radclyffe.”

“Your mate?” Richard asks.

“No,” Alex replies, looking past Richard. “Who is _that_?! She your mate?”

Richard turns around and beckons the young woman over. “No. We call each other siblings even though we’re not related at all.”

“Hello,” says the blonde beauty quietly. “Katherine Charleston.”

“Nice to meet you,” Alex says, practically panting.

“Where are you staying?” I ask, totally absorbed in Richard.

Richard smiles. “Nowhere, yet. We just got into town.”

“Well, by all means, come with us,” Alex says quickly, hopping out of the car and opening the back door for Katherine, before climbing into the back seat with her.

“Now that that’s settled,” Richard says, climbing in beside me, “whereabouts do you two live?”

“With the Cullen family,” I tell Richard as we continue driving through the rest of town. “I think you’ll like it—the forest is amazing. Abundant in animals.”

“Vegetarian, eh?” Richard asks, nodding at my golden eyes.

“Guilty,” I reply.

“Of more than one thing, I assume,” Richard replies as we drive through the dark and towards home.


	4. Things Unknown

_After the awkward conversation of how I was conceived, I decided to head right to my bedroom when we got back to the house. Dad didn’t mind—he went across the street where the dinner party was still going on with Charlie, Sue, and the rest of their family. I rolled my shoulders, wondering what to do for the rest of the night. It wasn’t even nine o’clock, and school was still six weeks away, so it’s not like I had to be up by six the following morning. Dad had told me that he had to go to the fire house the following day, but that he’d be carpooling with Deputy Channing, so he would be leaving me the car in case I wanted to ‘wander’._

_I decided to get out of town the following day and, knowing there wasn’t a movie theater in town, Googled the closest one. It was called Deer Park Cinema, and I decided to look over their releases. Clapping my hands with pleasure, I discovered that they had Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2—a film that had come out just a week before that I hadn’t seen yet. I went onto my laptop and ordered the tickets online with the credit card that Dad had surprised me with and printed them out immediately. I then decided to update my social media and did so quickly, my profile picture of a rose clearly not my face but I wasn’t a very photogenic person. I post about my move to Forks to be with my father and my handful of friends comment about how much they will miss me._

_I find myself looking again at the reading list for my European Literature class and find that I have read most of the material—Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet by William Shakespeare; Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Northanger Abbey by Jane Austin; Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell; Ulysses by James Joyce; Les Misérables by Victor Hugo; Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bront[ë](https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&espv=2&q=Charlotte+Bront%C3%AB&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAOPgE-LQz9U3SEspMVUCswwrsoy1ZLKTrfST8vOz9cuLMktKUvPiy_OLsq0SS0sy8osAVtxYQDQAAAA&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjTwO6Mve3QAhVbM1AKHWmQD0UQmxMItAEoATAT); and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens among the works. I’d read Austen, of course, along with Shakespeare and Orwell, and I’d also read Hugo and Bront[ë](https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&espv=2&q=Charlotte+Bront%C3%AB&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAOPgE-LQz9U3SEspMVUCswwrsoy1ZLKTrfST8vOz9cuLMktKUvPiy_OLsq0SS0sy8osAVtxYQDQAAAA&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjTwO6Mve3QAhVbM1AKHWmQD0UQmxMItAEoATAT) but for the rest, I had not. I’d read Little Dorrit, Oliver Twist, and Nicholas Nickleby by Dickens, but had not yet the pleasure of reading Great Expectations, something that I greatly looked forward to. Pushing away from my laptop I decided to do a bit of reading before bed, looking over my already-set-up bookshelf and deciding to look again at Wuthering Heights._

_Taking out my copy, I thumbed to where my bookmark had been placed—about halfway through the book—and was perplexed to find some strange handwriting written upon the piece of paper I was using for a bookmark. I shut the book immediately, thinking that I was overtired from the trip... I must’ve imagined all this, right? The restaurant had been particularly exhausting, and I had had a good long run that day... Perhaps it was that bothersome boy who had nearly killed me in his Jeep earlier, right?_

_I resolved to peek again—what harm could it really do? I deduced quickly that it was far too old-fashioned to be mine, and I knew it didn’t match my mother’s or father’s curled style of things. I wondered why someone would bother to even write me a note, especially in my book—they’d defaced my personal property without meaning to, I reasoned. The words were simple and yet I found myself altogether frightened at the prospect of someone going through my belongings..._

Be safe—and don’t go into the woods alone.

_Lying back upon my bed, I went over in my mind who the possible culprits could possibly be—who was the real guilty party here? What it really came down to was who was familiar with my hiking habit, so I could eliminate a fair amount of the population of Forks, Washington right off the bad. I had the book open against my chest, as Yellow by Coldplay began to play in my bedroom speakers, as I attempted to decode the message and wondered if, by chance, someone potentially saw something that I didn’t. As I felt my eyelids growing heavy, I wondered why someone would want someone like me—a mere speck in the grand scheme of things—to be safe._

. . .

As I pulled into my designated area for my car back at the Cullen house, I turned off my car and stepped out, the snow crunching beneath my feet as I locked my door. Looking up, I caught Richard staring at me, and I raised my eyebrows at him, to which he looked away rather quickly while I did my best not to laugh. Alex and Katherine got out of the back of my car, chattering away; there was something very 1950’s about Katherine and I wondered if she was from that particular era as we walked up to the house. Opening the door, we went upstairs to the living room, and I found myself inexplicably drawn to Richard’s side, something hid body language told me he didn’t mind.

Carlisle and Esme were waiting for us as we entered the living room, which clearly looked like something out of a Better Homes & Gardens catalogue. Carlisle steps forward, as head of our coven, and places a polite smile upon his face as he steps first toward Richard, and he immediately extends his hand. I notice that Esme sees how close we are, as well as the severe closeness between Alex and Katherine, but she does not verbally comment.

“How do you do? I’m Carlisle Cullen,” he says, shaking Richard’s hand.

“Richard Kingsley,” Richard replies. “This is my cousin, Katherine Charleston.”

“How do you do, sir?” Katherine says, taking Carlisle’s offered hand.

“Fine, thank you,” Carlisle replies. “Do you mind if I...?”

Richard smiles. “Not at all.” He sits when Carlisle motions for him to do so and Katherine does the same, albeit at an appropriate distance, while Alex sits upon the arm of the couch next to her, and I take the spot beside Richard. “Ask away,” Richard says, touching my hand briefly, letting me know he is pleased to be near me.

“When were you changed?” Carlisle asks.

“The end of August, 1934,” Richard replies easily. “I was born in London, and my parents moved to New York when I was about thirteen, so we never lost the accent, any of us. I was sent to my aunt’s house, Katherine’s mother, in North Carolina when I was twelve, after the stock market crash. Katherine’s mother helped me grow into a man, but I contracted polio and was sent away to a hospital. The bills stopped being payed as my aunt was informed that I would not be cured and...”

“St. Joseph’s Hospital?” Carlisle asks.

Richard nods. “Yes, as a matter of fact...”

Carlisle finds himself in shock, before turning to Esme. “When we lived in Appalachia, I went down to North Carolina to see if there was anything I could do at St. Joseph’s for the tuberculosis patients...” He turns swiftly back to Richard. “Were you aware that you had tuberculosis?” he asks him.

Richard shakes his head. “No, I don’t have medical degrees. Law degrees, yes. Language degrees, certainly, and many others, but not medical.”

“But you were not aware that you had tuberculosis?”

“No,” Richard replies. “I lost weight and was exhausted—too exhausted to walk—so when the town doctor came to the house...”

“He diagnosed polio,” Carlisle says, shaking his head. “Were you coughing up blood terribly?”

He nods emphatically. “Yes. After three weeks in the hospital, after the exhaustion tapered off somewhat, I was coughing up blood.”

“What date?” Carlisle asks. “What date in August?”

“The twenty-ninth,” Richard replies. “I woke up alone in the woods...”

“The Pisgah National Forest,” Carlisle whispers, “I remember now. I carried you over the Black Mountain under cover of night and left you near Mount Mitchell.”

“It was you, then,” Richard says softly. “I hardly recognized you—you wore your hair differently and your eyes were black.”

“I was thirsty,” Carlisle confesses. “The only mammals I could find were white-tailed deer and coyotes—the bears were hiding.”

Richard chuckled at that. “That was all I drank—when I wasn’t sneaking off to the farm to see Katherine. There had been plans for the pair of us to be married off to the farmer’s children next door, but Katherine...” He turns to her. “Would you like to tell Carlisle your story now?”

Katherine smiles. “Richard changed me,” she says softly. “I was due to be married at the end of the week and I absolutely did not under any circumstances want to marry Harold Abshire—he was a perfectly bothersome boy who didn’t respect women. The only thing I insisted upon with him is that we wait until our wedding night, a luxury he wouldn’t even give me, though I asked for nothing else...”

Something clatters from upstairs then and, in an instant, Rosalie has entered the living room, a look of pure horror upon her beautiful face. “Katherine?” she whispers.

“Rosalie?!” demands Richard, taken aback.

“Rose!” cries Katherine, and launches herself in her arms.

Carlisle looks so shocked he cannot speak, so Esme does so for him.

“Rose, do you know Katherine?” she asks.

“Katherine was my closest friend after Vera,” Rosalie says by means of explanation before pulling back to gaze upon Katherine. “You were to come to Rochester for the wedding but...” She shakes her head.

“Royce King—terribly nice boy from what you told me in your letters,” Katherine says softly, and we hear a thump from upstairs, followed by a roar and something splintering before heavy footfalls fill our ears and Emmett walks into the room.

“_Never_ say that!” he screams, his eyes locked on Katherine. “Never!”

“Emmett!” Rosalie cried, holding Katherine close. “Katherine was practically my sister growing up, as she was an only child! Katherine’s like family to me...”

“And I’m, like, your husband,” Emmett thunders back. “The words ‘Royce King’ aren’t welcome in this house!”

I purse my lips. “You just said it.”

“Dammit!” Emmett cries, turning around and running as fast as he can towards the back door, which opens from the other side as Bella and Edward troop in.

Seeing Emmett’s face, Edward grabs Bella and pulls the pair of them into a corner as the raving mad vampire runs out into the night. “What did we miss?” Edward asks.

“How many are in your family?” Katherine whispers to Rosalie.

“Well, there are my parents, Carlisle and Esme, who you’ve met,” Rosalie replies in a more patient manner than I’ve ever seen. “I have three sisters, Alice, Bella, and Beth, and two brothers, Jasper and Edward. Then there’s my husband, Emmett, and my niece, Renesmee, of whom I am particularly fond.”

Bella snorts at that; next to her, Rosalie was Renesmee’s favorite female of the family, but it was so clearly a tie between her and Esme.

“And then there’s Alex, who you’ve met—we’re looking after him,” she says. “Beth joined our family just four months ago...”

“Four months?” Richard asks, turning to me. “You’re kidding.”

I shake my head. “Not kidding.”

There is a sudden _whoosh_ and Jasper and Alice suddenly troop downstairs, bright smiles upon their faces.

“Beth exhibits an incredible amount of self-control,” Jasper explains. “I oversaw training Newborn vampires for fighting purposes.”

“Jasper and I trained Beth to be civilized in mixed company,” Alice puts in.

“Other than Bella, a vampire with such incredible self-control hasn’t existed since Carlisle,” Jasper says admiringly before he turns to look at him. “Do you have any biological brothers or sisters we don’t know about? Maybe you and Beth really are related somehow...”

Carlisle chuckles. “Only child, I’m afraid, unless my father had another child that I didn’t know about,” he replies, smiling at me before turning to look at Richard and Katherine. “I welcome the two of you, if you would like to stay.”

“Thank you,” Katherine replies. “I’d like that.”

“Thank you, Carlisle,” Richard says. “That would be nice.”

The back door opens then, and a more-reserved Emmett enters the house, apologies written in his face. “Sorry,” he said.

Rosalie crossed from Katherine and walked elegantly towards him. “I know you are,” she replies, standing on her toes and kissing him on the cheek.

Emmett puts his arms around her as she turns back to Richard and Katherine, all the while her husband has questions in his eyes. “What can you do?” he asks Richard.

Richard smiles, looking over at a vase of purple roses that Alice has carefully arranged earlier that afternoon, placed dead center upon the glass side table by the window. All with his eyes, without lifting a finger, Richard narrows his eyes ever so slightly—so slightly that a human wouldn’t notice it—and _freezes_ the water, so as the green stems of the roses are trapped in a block of ice. Edward is shocked, while Emmett looks pleased, and Carlisle looks fascinated, while Alice lets out a shriek of horror.

“Stop that!” she shouts. She crosses the room to fix the flowers, but Richard raises his eyebrows and the block of ice quickly melts. Alice turns back to Richard and swipes the vase away with one quick movement. “That’ll be _enough _of—”

Richard zooms forward then and places a hand upon Alice’s arm, and she blinks, shocked, as she looks up at him.

“Was I just screaming at you?” she asks.

Clearly amused, Richard nods. “You were.”

“Why was I...?”

Richard places his hand upon her arm again, and she quickly pulls back, away from him, and springs to Jasper’s side.

“—that! _Don’t_ do that!” she shouts, turning around and marches into the kitchen.

“Memory erasing and recreation—fascinating,” Carlisle whispers.

“Don’t forget the freezing and melting,” Emmett chuckles. “Hey, could you freeze Alice’s flower water again, even though she’s out of the room?”

Richard smiles, and we hear a shriek from the kitchen.

“Dammit!” Alice yells, charging back into the living room. “You!” she says, and runs at Richard, shoving him back-first into the wall.

I feel my jaw drop as Richard effortlessly _goes through_ the wall, half-way, and lifts his hand to wave at us before slipping back into the living room. “Weren’t expecting _that_ now were you?” he asks Alice.

Alice sputters, clearly in shock. “I just wish I could see what you’re thinking of doing,” she moans, shaking her head. “If I could just anticipate...”

“My ability of memory restoration and amnesia inducement prohibits such abilities from entering my thoughts,” he replies easily. “Another vampire was unable to hear my thoughts or see my memories, and he touched me...”

Edward visibly stiffens, and Carlisle opens his mouth to speak.

“Richard, do you know this vampire’s name?” he asks.

Richard nods. “Yes. Aro.”

“You’ve _met_ the Volturi?” Bella demands, quickly on her guard. “Were you one of them? I mean... Well, were you? Were you and Katherine...?”

“No.” Richard shakes his head, his voice firm. “They wanted to get their hands on us, especially when they knew of her gifts...”

“Her gifts?” Carlisle asks. “Katherine? You’re gifted, too?”

“Yes,” Katherine replies.

“Would you show us, please?” Carlisle asks her.

Katherine looks to Richard, who nods, and she sighs a little. She raises her eyes to Edward and walks up to him, and I note that Bella immediately assumes the position to put up her shield, but Edward stops her with his hand. “She won’t hurt me,” Edward tells her, and Bella immediately steps back.

Katherine smiles in a friendly manner and reaches out and takes Edward’s hand, who complies willingly, and her eyes widen then. “You loved your mother very much,” she says softly, too softly for any ordinary human to hear. “Elizabeth Masen loved you so much that she begged Carlisle to keep you safe from the Spanish Influenza in 1918. Carlisle saved you and created you first...” She shivers. “That hospital was so cold...everyone around you was sick and dying...”

“It was quite hot,” Edward puts in.

“Emotionally—you were all alone, but for Carlisle, after your mother held on as long as she was able to... Your father...you two were not close...”

Edward stiffens, clearly offended.

“You pretended to be Carlisle’s brother-in-law in those early days before striking out on your own... You killed people—murderers, rapists, robbers, criminals...all dead because of you. Dead, dead, dead...all dead.” Katherine shakes, her voice rising. “You believe you did the right thing and you did! Killed them all, all, all...”

Richard rushes across the room and grabs Katherine, severing her mental connection with Edward while I watch, stunned. “It’s okay, Katherine, it’s okay...” He says softly.

Katherine lets out a scream then, falling to her knees and bringing Richard down to the floor with her. “He thought Bella was dead!” she screams, shaking all over again. “His view of the world went black! Poor, poor Edward, feeling as if he had to reveal himself to the humans so that he could join Bella—”

“Katherine!” Carlisle shouts, and the unfamiliar voice snaps her out of it. “Richard, if it is all right with you, perhaps I could...”

“Examine her? By all means.” Richard brings Katherine to her feet, and notices the shocked look on Alex’s face as Carlisle brings Katherine to his home exam room. “You can go with her, if you like,” Richard tells him.

Alex smiles tightly in thanks and follows them.

Emmett, Rosalie, Alice, and Jasper return upstairs, while Bella gently pushes Edward out the back door and through the woods, back to the cottage. Esme stands there for a moment, watching as I close the distance between myself and Richard, desperately wanting to reach out and take his hand. She smiles; she knows what I am feeling, despite not possessing Edward’s gift of thought-reading—she possesses something far greater. She has the mind of a mother, and knows full well what mutual attraction looks like.

“You could bunk with Alex, Richard, in the attic,” Esme says softly. “I’ll leave some towels out for you. Katherine can bunk with Beth, if that’s agreeable.”

“Yes. Thank you, Mrs. Cullen,” Richard says, not taking his eyes off me.

“Esme, please, Richard. Goodnight,” she says, and slips out of the room.

Richard’s hand is at a fist by his side, and I find myself drawn to it, almost as if there is an invisible force connecting us to one another. When my hand finds his, he latches onto it, almost as if my hand is his lifeline. There are no words between us, but there don’t need to be; our eyes do the speaking for us, and although neither of us have Edward’s ability either, we know that something has transpired this night, and that Richard and I must be connected forever.

. . .

School resumed the following Tuesday, and Carlisle was able to enroll Richard and Katherine, who had decided to stay with us. The cover story with Richard and Katherine was that they were siblings who Carlisle and Esme were taking in for a time. Richard was staying with Alex in the attic, while Carlisle and Esme had gotten a second bed for my bedroom so as Katherine could be comfortable.

Richard had gone into the main office on the first day and had somehow managed to charm Ms. Cope, the receptionist in the front office, into giving him an exact copy of my schedule for his own classes. How he managed to do that, I have no idea, but it was wonderful to be near him for six more hours every day. Alex and Katherine had modified their schedules accordingly, and Richard and I were together all day long. Bella and Edward had told us of this table by the massive lunchroom windows that was the undisputed Cullen table and Richard, Katherine, Alex, and I all sit there, although I am the only resident Cullen at Forks High School to speak of.

It is on the Friday at the end of our first week back that Theo shows up randomly in the lunch line, and I do my best not to make eye contact with him, feeling mortified at how I’d behaved at Minnie St. Clair’s party. Richard, Alex, and Katherine had already gone to the table; I’d gone to the library after literature to do some research on Harriet Beecher Stowe for an assignment in A.P. Government, thus delaying my arrival.

I mechanically shovel some salad onto my plate—the shredded cabbage and carrots staring up at me, foods I barely touched as a human—and slip a cheeseburger to round it all out. I grab an individual carton of chocolate milk—one thing I missed about human life was the sweets that were constantly dangled in front of me—and top the meal all off with a cookie. I make my way to the cashier, who was always blown away by my physical perfection, and I handed over my credit card to be swiped. It goes through instantly and it is handed back to me, whereupon I wish the plump woman a good day before slipping out into the eating area, where I see Minnie St. Clair flirting with Richard.

In that moment, I wished that I had telepathy, and then I could tell Alex to freeze time so as I could drag Minnie out of the lunchroom, haul her off to the woods, and maul her to death in proper bear fashion. Gritting my teeth, I find I am being pushed over the edge when she drapes her hand over and over his arm, and _he_ seems to be hanging onto _her_ every word like a proper buffoon.

I find I am so unaware of my surroundings that Theo has found me again. amidst all my inner thoughts—including but not limited to—_Why me_?! Of course, there was the rather typical, _Dammit, can’t Minnie St. Clair find someone else to bother_? Followed by the classic _I want to claw your eyes out_! _Stay _away_ from my man_! I turned to Theo, fixing a proper smile onto my face and allowed him to engage me in conversation. As far as this innocent human was concerned, we had exchanged our numbers and a kiss—a New Year’s kiss—so, therefore, I must be like his property now...or something...

“Beth! Hi!” Theo crows, clearly pleased to see me.

I smile, more reserved than he is. “Hello, Theo. How are you?”

“Wow. Your voice really _is_ amazing,” he says. “You should join our choir class.”

I raise my eyebrows. “Choir?”

“Yeah!” he says. “I’m the Student Choir Director.”

I blink, shocked. “Well, I’m in drama right now, and the Christmas play just happened and I’m pretty whipped out from all that...”

“Will you be doing the spring musical?”

“Missed the announcement,” I reply. “What is it this year?”

“_Wicked_,” Theo replies. “Rumor has it that Minnie St. Clair is a shoe-in for Glinda.”

“I believe that,” I mutter.

Theo laughs—high-pitched, nervous. “So, listen, about the party...”

“About that,” I say, peeking at Minnie hanging off Richard across the lunchroom and feeling my rage bubbling beneath. “Did you still want to go out?”

He sighs. “Listen, I was really drunk that night...”

I turn back to Theo and smile. “I’m not your type? Is that it?”

“Yes!” he says, full of relief, and then backpedals. “No! I mean...” He sighs and steps closer and I put my hand up against him to create a façade, and he stiffens at my coolness. “I mean I’m...I’m not...”

I smile. “You’re gay?” I guess.

Theo sighs and lowers his eyes. “Yeah. Yeah, I am.”

I can see that he’s telling the truth; I mean, I _was_ the one who had kissed him. “Would you still like to be friends?”

He blinks. “You’re not upset?”

“Why would I be upset? I know that it’s not my fault.”

Theo laughs, getting the joke. “Yeah, I’d like to be friends.” He sighs. “My family doesn’t know yet so do you think you could...”

“Hang around you just enough so that they think we’re together?”

Theo blushes. “Yes.”

I smile. “No problem, but you really should tell them...”

“I’m waiting for just the right moment,” Theo replies. “I just turned eighteen and I want the dust to settle after graduation, you know?”

I nod. “Of course.”

“I was thinking of going to Port Angeles next weekend to, I don’t know, walk around and get dinner... You in?”

I nod. “Of course.” I stand on my toes and kiss him on the cheek. “Cover story—it’s our first official date.”

Theo laughs, shivering at the coolness of my breath. “Thanks for doing this.”

“No problem,” I reply, lacing my hands through his as I lead him over to our table. “I’m as free as a bird in a tree.”

. . .

Later that day, Richard and I were in drama together, and he was ill at ease about what had happened in the lunchroom. Using my shield to the best of my abilities, I’d been able to keep him from hearing the bits of conversation where Theo and I were merely pretending to be a couple. He and I had an eternity, so it wasn’t as if it was the end of the world to mess with him ever so slightly.

Our drama teacher announced that_ Wicked_ had been cast, but that they were short the female lead—Elphaba. Richard had gotten the part of Fiyero, and Minnie, naturally, is playing Glinda. Theo is playing the Wizard, and two friends of Minnie’s are playing Madame Morrible as well as Nessa, respectively. I walk confidently up to the drama teacher, Mr. FitzGerald, and ask him for the chance to audition for Elphaba, ignoring the fact that I must do a scene with Richard by the end of the week for _The Taming of the Shrew_, of which I’ve already memorized.

Although annoyed with the lateness of my audition, he summons Minnie and takes us to a rehearsal room, where he goes to the speaker system. He plugs in his iPod and plays the knockout number for the show, _Defying Gravity_. I don’t know what I managed to do, but by the end of the number, Mr. FitzGerald is staring at me, jaw flapping open like a proper codfish, and I know full well that Mary Poppins would be pleased. He immediately offers me the part and I accept it, all the while I can sense that Minnie is annoyed. We step out into the hallway together, as she must get back to her scene group where they are going to do a scene from _Hamlet_.

“Richard is certainly good-looking,” Minnie says.

I nod. “Yeah, I guess.”

Minnie is clearly fishing, but smiles nonetheless. “I’m thinking of asking him to the Tolo Ball,” she informs me; it is a combination of a winter ball, where the girls ask the guys. It is a masquerade theme, just like our prom that year, except prom will be held at the Elks Lodge while the Tolo Ball will be held in our gym. “Everyone knows that even though it’s only been a few days that he’s crazy about me.”

We’d stopped walking by this point and Mr. FitzGerald had already slipped past us and back into the drama room. Sensing that we were alone, I considered reaching out and slamming Minnie into the wall—I’d completely lost control. Nearly shaking, I turned to her then and she caught my eye, quickly going white and staring at me as if I was a monster—I was, in fact, per societal rules. “Best watch your step, Minnie,” I say to her, knocking into her before heading back into the drama room.

Outside of Shakespeare’s text, I don’t say a word to Richard for the rest of the day. I manage to convince Katherine to ride up front with me on the way home, and, as soon as I’ve parked the car, I jerk the keys out of the ignition and leave my school things in there. I run into the woods as soon as I’ve cleared the main property line—I need a hunt, I’m smart enough to know that. As I dash through the trees, I know that Richard is behind me—he’ll be wanting an explanation of some kind for my silent treatment. The scent of the mountain lion hits me like moth to a flame, and I charge in the direction that I feel it stalking.

Without hesitation, I leap through the grove of trees and ambush the big cat; as it roars at me in protest, I latch myself onto its body, my fangs tearing at its throat without mercy. As I feel the red liquid escaping from its throat wound, I drink it up like a starving drug addict would to heroin. I _needed_ this now, more than anything; I imagined the mountain lion as Minnie, and that I was drinking her blood for sustenance. Her black eyes never making themselves innocent and lovey-dovey for Richard ever again...

“Beth! You’ve drained it dry. Let it go.”

I dropped the beast immediately, angry at Richard for interrupting me. A wind blew around us then, and I sensed a lone deer close by, and I ran toward it—I wanted more. I found the deer in no time, Richard at my heels, and attacked the impressive buck, barely managing to escape unscathed from its imposing horns. Looking myself over, I was pleased at my efforts to keep myself clean—in my training, it was something that Jasper had taught me. Turning back to Richard, my head was no longer swimming with a desire for blood, but a desire for him. I wanted _him_, and I’d never wanted anything so much.

Closing the distance between us, I ran for his arms, and loved the feeling of it when Richard puts his arms around me. I leaned down my head and kissed him with a reckless abandon that I’d seen in many teenagers—I wanted him and all of him. We didn’t need to come up for air, and such a thing was pure bliss.

“What...? What about Theo?” he asks me softly.

I sigh. “He and I...we’re not...”

“But you kissed.” He pulls away from me then.

“Richard...” I step towards him, like I’m compelled to do so.

He shakes his head. “I can’t do this, Beth,” he says, and slips back to the big house.

I am angry beyond belief that Richard wouldn’t allow me to explain as I trudged back to the big house myself. I returned to my car and got out my school things, returning to my bedroom, where I wasn’t surprised to see Katherine gone. I got onto my desktop and finished the final touches on my essay before printing out the thing and lying back in my chair, annoyed. I still had a dozen or so math problems to complete, and I had to write about the insignificant lab we’d done in physics that morning. Plus, there was my report for government and my paper for European literature.

“At least I don’t need sleep,” I mutter to myself, and force myself to get back to work on this terrible assignment.

I go through this same mundane activity presently known to the public as “homework” for the next two weeks. Now that Alex had his own set of wheels, he was driving Katherine and Richard to school in the mornings. Other than hunting and school, I’d barely left my room for the next two weeks, with no interaction from the family whatsoever. As I sit there at my desk keyboard keys clicking away against my nails, I let out an audible groan, feeling grossly human as I do so.

“Weather calls for sunny and warm tomorrow.”

I turn and see Alice standing in my doorway. “Hey to you, too,” I tell her.

She comes inside and perches on the edge of my bed. “Can’t think why you and Katherine have these things,” she mutters, fiddling with my goose down comforter. “It’s not like either of you are using them.”

“Hey!”

“What?” she asks, completely innocent. “You respect yourself and Katherine is from an era where they don’t do that sort of thing. It’s perfectly understandable.”

I shrug. “I don’t know. Sometimes I just lie there and think. It’s still comfortable, even though I don’t sleep anymore.”

She purses her lips. “Maybe.”

“Yes, I _know_ what you use yours for, Alice.”

She grins, her teeth white and sparkly. “Don’t knock it ‘till you try it.”

I shrug. “Not happening.”

“Why? I saw you and Richard kiss in the woods. And then there’s Alex who still has some feelings for you...”

“He’s with Katherine...”

“Nothing’s been decided,” Alice tells me quickly.

I roll my eyes. “Seriously.”

Alice sighs, stiffening ever so slightly as her thoughts are interrupted by a vision. I find I am shocked when Jasper doesn’t come crashing through the door; he had some business to take care of in Seattle that day, but it still didn’t explain why he couldn’t manage to anticipate Alice seeing something of importance, thus running back to her side. “I...”

I get to my feet and zoom over to the bed, holding Alice by the shoulders. I am the same height as Bella is, so I’m about five inches taller than the tiny Alice. “Alice,” I say. “What’s wrong? What did you see?”

“I...” She shakes her head. “I see darkness...”

“Darkness?” I ask her, confused. “I don’t understand.”

She sighs. “I see you with someone, but I can’t see who it is...”

“Richard?” I ask immediately.

“No. No, I’d see him.”

“Alex, then? He’s bonding with Katherine significantly, so maybe something happens between them and then he and I decide to give it a shot...”

“No,” Alice says, more firmly this time. “I’d _see_ him.”

I lower my eyes. “Sorry. I’m just confused...”

“The last time I had this blankness was when...” She stiffens. “You’re going to be dating one of those mutts!” she growls.

“A _mutt_?!” I demand in shock.

“One of the Black Pack,” Alice replies. “Edward read Embry’s mind on Christmas when you met him...”

“Did he now?” I ask, not entirely surprised. I was pleased with having Edward as a part of my family; he was like the protective older brother I’d never had.

“He did...”

“And?” I ask her. “What did he come up with?”

“Although any ordinary human wouldn’t think so—especially after the way you treated him...”

“Yeah?” I ask her, still adding two plus two and getting six.

She sighs. “Embry... I think that’s my blind spot when it comes to you—the blind spot I’ve seen marring your future since day one...”

I feel myself stiffen. “You mean... You mean, from the time I was turned, you saw a blind spot in my future?”

“No, not since you were turned,” Alice replies. “Since you met Bella and Edward at the airport, at LAX.”

“Couldn’t you have seen it the day I decided to move here?” I ask her. “Or the day my mom booked my plane ticket?”

“No,” Alice replies, “because even if you moved here, you would have been a senior in high school, so you wouldn’t have ever traveled in our circles, unless you went to the hospital for Carlisle to treat you...”

“And the plane ticket?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “No, because your flight from LAX to SeaTac—the flight your mom booked—was in Coach. Bella upgraded you to first-class—they had an extra ticket; I was supposed to go with them because Jasper was going to visit Peter and Charlotte and I wanted to get away, but then he changed his plans, so I stayed here... And then, that morning, when they first met you—you bonded over a copy of _Pride and Prejudice_, I remember that—that’s when everything changed...”

“And you saw everything?”

Alice nods. “Yes, yes, I saw it all. I remembered telling Edward to keep quiet and for Bella to not go and see her dad until you’d settled in properly. I saw your habits of hiking and so when I mentioned things to Emmett...”

“Emmett?” I asked.

“Yeah... I told him to follow you,” she confesses.

My mind flashes and I remember after my hike, when I saw Edward and Bella in their meadow together that I’d nearly been killed by a Jeep—Emmett’s Jeep. I remember him yelling with joy at the fact that they’d nearly gone off-road in a residential area... “Jasper was with him,” I say softly.

Alice nods. “Yes. I told him to go to keep Emmett’s emotions in check. I didn’t want Emmett doing anything too reckless...”

“Nearly killing me isn’t reckless?!” I demand. “Although I suppose I was undead a few days later anyway, not that it matters...”

“Beth, please. I told him _not_ to kill you...”

“Well, gee, Alice, that’s awfully comforting, isn’t it?!”

“What do you mean?!” she cries, getting to her feet.

I snort at her attempt to seem vicious and draw myself up to my full height. “It’s kind of a moot point, isn’t it? I’m dead—I’m freaking dead! I’m walking around like a damned zombie half the time because I feel like I want to blow my brains out from the sheer boredom of my everyday life!”

“What’s so boring about it?”

“Alice, I took advanced classes from the seventh grade onward. That means that my classes were exact copies of the upcoming year. My junior year was an exact copy of the senior classes I’m taking right now. Half the time I’m bored out of my mind and the other half of the time I just want to slaughter my entire class...”

My bedroom door opens then and I sense Jasper behind me, attempting to calm me down. I am quick on my feet and turn to him then, unleashing my shield to prevent him from manipulating my mind. He narrows his eyes at me, attempting to dissuade me from using my ability to allow him to calm me.

“Cut. That. Damn. Thing. Out. Right. Now.” I say these words through my teeth as I charge past him and outside, running to the edge of the woods; Jasper has the good sense not to try to follow me. I charge into the trees, not even caring about direction anymore; I had always had an incredible sense of direction as a human, and now that I was a vampire, it was no different. I found myself shutting down, allowing my body to do all the work as I ran faster and faster, deeper and deeper into the woods.

I was shaking by the time I stopped running, and I found myself at the base of the Olympic Mountain range, over thirty miles away from the Cullen house—my house now, too. I find myself able to take down my shield out here and, once I ascertain that there are no humans around for miles due to the coldness of the weather—it had to be below freezing up upon this peak—I let out a massive scream as I lifted my hands into the air. The lightning erupted from my fingertips and attacked the sky with a vengeance, seemingly cracking open its surface and allowing it to shed the tears that I wish I still could.

“Richard,” I whisper, knowing that nobody in their right mind could hear me. “Richard, I’m so sorry...”

It is around ten seconds later that I feel a hand upon my shoulder and, turning, I see Richard standing just opposite me. My response is immediate and I launch myself into his arms, the lightning changing into snow due to my happiness with that weather. I feel him chuckling against my lips’ vicious attack upon his, and he locks his arms firmly around my waist, pulling me to him rather quickly. I find I don’t want Richard to ever let me go, and I find I wouldn’t be against him and I potentially engaging into some controversial activity upon this mountaintop.

“Richard...”

“I know,” he tells me, drawing back and cupping my face in his hands before leaning down and placing his forehead against mine. “I know—but not yet.”

I huff, disappointment radiating through me as small sparks of thunder and lightning echo from far away. I reach up and grip his hands, still placed on either side of my head. “But I want to...”

He chuckles. “I know.”

“Soon?” I ask, like a child.

He sighs. “Theo...” His voice is soft, pleading.

“He’s just a friend,” I whisper back. “He’s not a threat to you and me, Richard. It’s you I want to be with.”

“But...?”

I sigh, pulling away ever so slightly. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to be kissing him anytime soon. I’m just going to be holding his hand and he’ll maybe put his arm around me. Besides, he’ll probably be more interested in you than he is in me.”

Richard blinks. “E-excuse me?”

I purse my lips. “You’re going to find out anyway—but this can’t get out, not yet.”

“So, Theo is gay?”

I nod. “Yeah. Yeah, he is.”

“So, you two are...?”

“Acting,” I reply. “I guess his parents are really conservative or something—I don’t know all the details. All I do know is that I want _you_.”

Richard sighs. “I’m not thrilled with the idea but, bottom line, you’re helping this guy.” His arms tighten around me. “If you’re mine...”

“I’m yours,” I assure him. “If Minnie keeps her hands off you.”

Richard chuckles. “But what if I want to play the field?” he whines.

“So long as I get to play, too,” I tell him.

He rolls his eyes. “Why am I not thrilled with that idea?”

“Because you’re a guy,” I reply. “You’re a guy who wants it all, but doesn’t want to afford me the same luxuries.”

“You should be a therapist,” Richard says. “You know everything.”

I shake my head. “I don’t know everything. I know enough—enough to know that I don’t want to analyze people’s heads without Edward’s ability.”

“He told me to come up here,” Richard tells me.

I smile. “I know.”

“See? Everything,” Richard says, as we proceed to jump down the mountain.

“Well, I _do_ know one thing...”

“Yes?”

I grin up at him, not giving him the information.

“Say it,” Richard says.

I raise my eyebrows at him. “Your mother told you to speak in such a manner to a _lady_?” I demand, pretending to be shocked.

He sighs. “Tell me, _please_.”

“Very good,” I tell him. “As the younger vampire...”

“Yes?”

I laugh. “As the younger vampire... I have the advantage!” I cry out, scaling down the rest of the mountain effortlessly, now running through the woods with the kind of reckless abandon that I’d been missing from my life since my transformation.


	5. Creature of the Night

_I drove up the following afternoon to the Deer Park Cinema, clutching my printed movie tickets in my hand as I navigated myself accordingly into a parking space. Slipping out of the car and locking it behind me, I found I was fifteen minutes early for the film as I walked to the main doors and stepped inside. I went up to the refreshment kiosk and bought a small bag of popcorn, a chilled bottle of water, and a chocolate bar. I turned to the ticket man and handed over my ticket, which he promptly tore and handed me the stub, directing me to the seventh theater._

_I stepped inside the dimly-lit theater and found a seat easily, setting my water in the cup holder and balancing the bar of chocolate on my lap. The minutes ticked by and, quite soon, the movie was starting. Voldemort was stealing the Elder Wand from Dumbledore’s grave, and, upon lifting it into his hands, the spell he cast split the sky. Settling into my seat, I prepared for the next two hours._

_After the film ended, there was not a dry eye in the house as I took my trash out of the theater and went to the ladies’ room. After using it and washing my hands, I make my way out of the building and return to my father’s car, whereupon I unlock it and slip back inside it, gripping the steering wheel. It is only around four-thirty, so I decide to drive into Port Angeles and walk around a bit before getting dinner._

_I found a parking space on the main street once getting Downtown and walked along it as the clouds came back over the waning, late-afternoon sun. I hopped into a couple of antique stores, managing to find another Russian nesting doll for the collection I’d slowly been building at home. I went into a book store and picked up a couple of books for school and for leisure over the next few weeks, knowing that I would have to do something other than hiking around Forks or cooking for my father. Besides, I knew that I’d have long hours to myself at home every other week, and I shouldn’t allow myself unlimited internet, cell phone, or T.V. access during that time._

_“Beth!”_

_I turned around then and saw none other than Edward and Bella Cullen, and I did my best to appear reserved with them. It was the way they walked—more of a glide, and the way their eyes and skin looked. Nobody’s skin was that pale, and their eyes were a combination of amber and gold—unless they were close friends with an optometrist, they wouldn’t be able to get their eyes to really look like that. I pasted on a smile nonetheless and accepted Edward’s handshake and Bella’s half-hug—I guess she wasn’t a particularly touchy-feely person but, then again, neither was I._

_“Nice to see you two,” I say politely. “What brings you here?”_

_“Bella and I had our first date over there,” Edward explains, nodding to a lavish-looking Italian restaurant across the street, and I found my stomach threatening to growl._

_“Bella Italia?” I ask, nodding. “How appropriate.”_

_“We’ve already eaten,” Bella explains, “but you look hungry...”_

_“Starving,” Edward says. “Why don’t we take you to dinner?”_

_“I—no. I couldn’t ask you to...”_

_“We insist,” Bella said with a smile, and she and Edward put their arms around my shoulders and take me inside. “Table for three, please,” Bella says, and I notice the waitress looks from her to Edward, clearly mesmerized at their physical beauty._

_Her dark eyes barely sweep over me as she gathers our menus—even though Bella and Edward won’t be eating—and take us over to a booth in the back. The restaurant is quiet, probably because it is just half past five, but we get the only booth by the window. It is a circular booth, and Bella and Edward slide themselves in without being asked as I perch on the end, taking the menu and thanking the waitress._

_“Do you remember what you ordered here on your first date?” I ask Bella, casually, after the waitress has poured us each a glass of water and returned to the front._

_“Vividly,” Bella replies. “I remember that I wanted to impress Edward, but I couldn’t look at him clearly... The waitress was ogling him, but he made it very clear that he was here with me and wasn’t interested in her.”_

_“Bella and food have never really had a mutual attraction,” Edward explains. “She ordered the first thing she saw on the menu—the mushroom ravioli.”_

_“Do you like mushrooms, Beth?” Bella asks._

_I shake my head. “Not a fan, no.”_

_I open the menu and peer at it, deciding to start with a small Caesar salad, followed by the chicken parmesan—my favorite—and would wait to hear about the desserts when the time came. I remembered being irritated that many people would assume that I adored tiramisu because my mother was half Italian, but it always reeked of coffee—another thing I disliked—and I could never bring myself to eat it under any circumstances whatsoever. After I’ve ordered, I make small talk with Bella and Edward, wishing that I could bring up the meadow to them, but decided not to invade their privacy._

. . .

Now that Richard, Alex, and Katherine were going to be staying with us on a permanent basis, Carlisle and Esme decided to put Esme’s talents to work and add on a whole other wing to the already large house. Plans began immediately, and Esme quickly enlisted the help of Emmett and Jacob, due to their physique and everyone knows that men are particularly good at heavy lifting. This meant that Jasper always stayed close to me, as Renesmee was over quite frequently now, but everyone knew that we had absolutely nothing to worry about. Jasper made sure that I was on point, and I made sure to never step out of line with him again.

“The wing will have two rooms,” Esme explained to me one afternoon. It was a partly sunny Saturday morning, and once Esme told me of her work schedule, I made sure that the rains never came to spoil it. “I’ve decided that Katherine’s bedroom will have a back staircase leading to the attic and that Richard’s room will have a door connecting to your bedroom, Beth. How does that sound?” Her hands were clasped a few inches below her chin, and I knew full well that, had Esme still been human, her face would be flushed with pure and devoted excitement—she was doing something creative that she loved, and clearly, she wanted to do an excellent job.

“Must be impressive rooms if they make up a wing,” Emmett said in a rather snarky tone as he nailed some boards down for the foundation, and Jacob laughed at him as he sawed down some pieces of plank for Esme.

“They’ll each have a walk-in closet,” Alice puts in from where she is perched on her nearby balcony. Edward had joked with me that Alice wanted that thing built because she would ask Jasper to recite her Shakespeare sometimes.

“Per Alice’s specifications,” Esme says, shooting Alice a look of mock-warning. “And each will have an en suite bathroom, of course—just typical homeowner things that realtors will look for if we ever sell this place... Plus, I thought I’d knock down a wall in the kitchen and add a staircase to that hallway. Who says you can have too many staircases?”

I shrug. “You clearly have a vision.”

She sighs, motioning for Alice to keep an eye on Emmett and Jacob before pulling me to the side for a moment. “When Edward read your mind last week, it struck me how much devastation you have within you.” At my shocked expression, she replied, “He mentioned some things to Carlisle and me. He told us about your mother...”

I sigh. “Esme, for all intents and purposes, _you_ are my mother. My own mother...” I shake my head. “She and Andy just got married in Rome about a week ago—the day before I let Edward in, actually.”

Esme smiles. “I’m sorry you couldn’t be there.”

I shake my head. “I wouldn’t have wanted to have been there, anyway. She’s not cut out to be a mother, Esme. She had psychosis after having me...”

“Yes, Edward mentioned that...”

“Did he also mention that she tried to kill me, multiple times?” I whisper.

Esme reaches out to me and pulls me to her, not letting me go. “Sweetheart, please... What are you not telling me?”

“She’s pregnant, Esme. My mother is pregnant with Andy’s twin sons—that’s why they pushed up the wedding date. Now that they’re married, she’s suddenly considered important to society and made herself a damned Twitter account.” I feel myself shaking and breaking down, as much as a vampire can. “Where is Richard?” I whisper to her. “I need him... I need Richard...”

Immediately, I sense him behind me, and Esme releases me, and I throw myself into Richard’s arms. I whisper to Richard about Edward and Bella taking Renesmee to Seattle that day to do some shopping under Alice’s strict orders, and he carries me at the run to their cottage on the grounds of the Cullen home. Once inside, I tell him everything, also telling him about the link to the article that I found on her.

“She said that she didn’t have any children in the article,” I whisper. “She said that these were her first children...” I am shaking.

“Beth...”

I shake my head at him. “I... I want... I want to go there and I want to kill her, Richard. As soon as those boys are born, I want to find out where my mother has given birth and take her and Andy out and take those boys... Please.” I look up at him. “I know it’s a lot to ask, Richard, but I need them...”

“She tried to kill you when you were a baby?”

I nod. “Yes. And was emotionally abusive for years. She said she ran off with me and took me away from my father because he didn’t want me. When I tried to tell her it wasn’t true, she said I was just as worthless as he was...”

“She ever hit you?”

I shake my head. “No. No, that was Andy.”

Richard pulled me to him so as our bodies were pressed up against each other’s. “I can’t believe that anyone would do that... He...he never...”

“No.” I shake my head. “He said that he would if I didn’t ‘behave myself’. He put his hand there a few times and made me touch him, but that was it.”

“That’s enough.” Richard grips me tightly. “We need to talk to Carlisle about this...”

The pair of us rush back to the house, but I find myself hanging back, tempted to look up my mother again. When I do, I am further devastated when I realize something—an article that is the headline on every major newspaper in the country. CNN, Newsweek, and Time Magazine are all covering it, as well as other chief news outlets, and I find I cannot walk at all, so in shock.

“Beth?” Richard asks, stepping closer towards me. “What is it?” He takes my phone from my hand and takes in the words of the headlines that have shocked me. Plastered on my phone’s screen is, in some form of another, ‘ROSEMARY REECE-TOWNSEND REVEALS SECRET LOVE CHILD WITH ANDREW TOWNSEND, NOW FOUR-YEARS-OLD, TAKEN FROM THEIR CUSTODY AFTER YEARS OF SUSPECTED CHILD ABUSE’.

I couldn’t believe it. My mother had lied to me when I was thirteen—she had told me that she had a tumor growing inside her and that was why she and Andy had not and could not have any more children. I had a sister. I. Had. A. Freaking. Sister. I knew that I had to find out where she was, as well as getting my new brothers out of my mother’s car. I ripped my phone from Richard’s hands and charged inside, making my way into Carlisle’s home exam room and stepped inside. I hesitated in the doorway, waiting for him to turn around, and I promptly ran to him.

He opened his arms, shocked, and held me for a moment. “What is it?” he asked.

I sighed. “You’re my dad...”

Carlisle chuckles. “That’s what the adoption papers say, yes.”

I bit my lip. “Rosalie asked your permission to kill Royce King and all his friends after her transformation...”

“She did.”

“Did you give it to her?”

“Yes—she swore she wouldn’t drink their blood and she didn’t.”

I lower my eyes. “My mother—my biological mother—tried to kill me,” I tell Carlisle. “I know that it’s wrong but...”

“But?”

“She tried to kill me and tried to turn me against my father through emotional abuse. And her now-husband, Andy, would beat me and...touch me...”

Carlisle stiffened. “Did he?”

I nod. “Yes. And news outlets are saying that she had a child with him and I was wondering if we could...”

“You want me to find her?”

I nod. “Yes. If she’s still in foster care, I was hoping to adopt her. By the time the adoption goes through, I’d be eighteen.”

He nods. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“And my mom, she’s pregnant again. I want to find her, kill her and Andy, and take her twin sons away once they’re born. I won’t drink their blood—that disgusts me. I just want them dead, Carlisle. Please...”

Carlisle holds me firmly by the shoulders. “You know how dangerous that is. Guys like your stepfather, they must have security...body guards, cameras... Are you sure you want to take that risk?”

“Andy wouldn’t do that,” I reply. “He only ever lied to the authorities when he was arrested on suspicion of abusing me. Everything else out of his mouth was the truth. He swore to my mother if he ever made it big, then none of that ‘security bull’. That’s what he called it then, and that’s what he’ll call it now. He’s a man of his word. Besides, even if he has body guards, I’ll take care of them, too.”

There is a knock on the door then and Jasper steps in. “I called J. Jenks in Seattle,” he tells the pair of us. “He has a lead into the foster care system here. Don’t ask me how, but he found Sarah—your sister,” he tells me when he sees my confusion. He hands over his phone to me, and I see an exact copy of myself as a little girl. “Meet Seraphina Alexandrine Townsend, your maternal half-sister.”

I let out a small gasp. “She’s still in foster care?”

“Yes. She was placed in a home for a time, but things didn’t work out so well. She was very withdrawn and the parents didn’t think she responded to them. She’s been back at the foster home for about six months. Nobody wants the little girl so withdrawn...”

“Where in Seattle?” I ask.

“Downtown. Where else?” Jasper replies.

I turn to Carlisle, who nods. “Okay. Jasper, have Jenks forge some documents saying that Beth was born in July of 1993 instead of 1994. We’ll say that they’re sisters but charm them into not looking into it. Got it?”

“Got it,” Jasper says, already putting his phone to his ear. “Hey, J. It’s Jasper. Listen, I need some documents...” He says, walking out of the room.

I turn then and see that Richard is there, and relief floods through me. Since he was nineteen at the time of his transformation, he’ll have no problem with obtaining custody of Sarah with me. As I walk closer to him, I feel secure as he puts his arms around me; I would at last be united with the sister I’d never known.

. . .

The documents are prepared by the end of the week and the following Friday, I arrange for the day off from school with Richard as Carlisle drives us to Seattle. Once we hit Downtown and his GPS tells us where we need to go, we find a parking space quickly and make our way into the imposing building. I half expect children’s arts and crafts to decorate the various walls but instead we’re greeted with the look of cheap lead paint that everyone warns you about in history class at some point. We go to the front office and are directed to the room for preschool-aged children, and, upon stepping inside with the social worker, I quickly pick Sarah out.

With Cathy, the social worker’s, permission, I make my way across the room and look at the spine of the book that Sarah is reading. The floor is made up of those foam pieces meant to resemble a jigsaw puzzle, and I wonder who in the hell came up with that idea. I crouch before Sarah, seeing the spine of the book and realize that it is a Little Golden Book, and tons of human memories rush through me. I find myself staring at this little girl, and know that, deep down, I can save her.

“Sarah.”

The four-year-old raises her eyes to mine—it’s not often a child can hear a voice that reminds them of bells. “Hi.” Her voice is very soft.

“Hello, Sarah. My name is Beth. Do you know who I am?”

“They said you were coming.” She shuts the book. “Are you my sister?”

I nod. “Yes, Sarah, I am.”

She looks at me with those violet eyes of hers, so desperate for love. “Will you keep me safe, Beth?” she asks.

I nod. “Always.”

“Will you love me?”

I reach out my hand. “Forever.”

She gets to her feet and I do the same. “Will you ever leave me?”

I don’t even hesitate for that answer. “Never.” I can hear the audible gasp from Cathy from behind me as Sarah runs to me, throwing her arms around me, gripping me as tightly as she possibly can. “It’s all right,” I whisper to her as she sobs. “Beth’s got you, Beth’s got you. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Are you taking me with you?” she whispers.

“Yes, Sarah. You’re coming home with me.”

“Home,” she says, sounding determined.

She spends the car ride looking out the window in silence, appreciating the company I am giving her in the backseat by merely holding her hand. Esme, Jacob, and Emmett have finished the new wing of the house, which now has four bedrooms instead of two. Alice all but insisted upon designing the rooms, and went all-out for Sarah’s. When we arrive back at the Cullen’s, I take Sarah upstairs and lead her to her new room after introducing her to the family, and she stares in awe at the room that Esme has built and Alice had designed all for her.

The walls were ornate and looked like something out of Marie Antoinette’s palaces. There was a window seat with a cream-colored cushion upon it, with many decorative throw pillows all in pink. There was a bay window behind it with lacy curtains against it, and thick pink curtains to be drawn during the night. Alice had ordered French provincial-style furniture, all in that cream color, including but not limited to two different-sized dressers; a mirror; two nightstands; the bed frame—which _had to_ be a full-sized bed; and a small bench stationed at the foot of Sarah’s bed. There was also a massive bookshelf against a wall, French provincial as well, filled with classic children’s books—that was one thing I’d insisted upon.

“Is this all right?” I ask Sarah, as she opens the two doors her room has to offer—one being the walk-in closet and the other, the bathroom.

Sarah nods. “Yes, thank you.”

I smile, leaning down and kissing her upon the cheek. “You’re welcome—but you should really thank Alice, Esme, Emmett, and Jacob. They worked very hard on this.”

She purses her lips. “Who is Alice to me?”

“Well, when everything’s settled, she’ll be your aunt.”

“And Esme?”

“Your grandmother.”

“And Emmett?”

“Your uncle.”

“And Jacob?”

“Your cousin-in-law,” I say, thinking quickly.

She nods, at ease with all of it. “Okay.”

“Now,” I say, “what’s say you we give you a wonderful bubble bath? Then we can put a new nightgown on you and then we can get you something to eat? Then I’ll read you some stories and then it’s time for sleep.”

“Cookies?” she asks.

I giggle. “Yes, you may have some cookies _after_ you’ve finished your dinner.”

Sarah nods at me like she understands. “Yes, Beth,” she says, and proceeds to get ready for her bath.

. . .

I begin plotting the murder of my mother and Andy with a vengeance. My stepfather has been offered numerous contracts, according to the acting database that Alice has managed to hack me into, and I plan to do the deed after graduation. Thankfully, February flitted by rather quickly, as did March, so by April, the plan was set and by May, Alice was nose-deep in planning the graduation party for me, Richard, Alex, and Katherine. I didn’t really want a party, but Sarah was so excited—what with the new party dress that Alice had bought for her—that even I was coming around to the idea. With Carlisle’s permission, I had decided to reveal to Sarah what we all were by the time she was sixteen and, if she wanted to, I would change her myself upon her eighteenth birthday. I didn’t want any rashness with my younger sister, and I knew that, when the time came—if the time came—then she would have been my daughter for the better part of her life.

In the second week of May, we performed our musical _Wicked_, which lasted for two weeks until the last week of the month. Minnie and I had reached an understanding at one of her parties last April—when Richard and I had become an official couple in the social circles provided to it. It helped considerably, because Richard had been able to convince Theo to come out to his parents within days of us getting Sarah, and a new student, one Chadwick Spencer, had enrolled at Forks High School that February, and Theo and Chadwick had been inseparable ever since. Theo’s parents took his coming out surprisingly well, and I was pleased to meet Chastity, his older sister who went to college in Vermont, at one of our _Wicked _shows that May. She had come with her boyfriend, Morris, and seemed quite eager to meet me, due to my friendship with Theo.

I begrudgingly wore the dress that Alice had picked out for me from her favorite online dress shop for graduation, and was pleased to have Richard at my side. Even though we were called alphabetically to the stage to collect our diplomas, it was festival seating, so I could remain with him throughout the night. On Richard’s other side were Katherine and Alex, while on my other side were Theo and Chadwick. I was quite surprised at the electric response from my classmates as my name was called, and I went up onto the stage, crossing my fingers that I wouldn’t trip, and accepted my diploma, shaking the principal’s hand and smiling for the camera, very eager to shed the yellow robe I was required to wear that evening to appear somewhat ‘uniform’.

Carlisle and Esme had arranged for a weekend away and so after taking everyone aside for a quick hug, they drove off for the Lost Mountain Lodge in Sequim. Bella and Edward were going on a long hunt with Rosalie and Emmett that night, while Jacob and Renesmee were enjoying a quiet evening at home in La Push. Alice and Jasper were staying at the blow-out party to ‘supervise’, but only because Alice was the host and Jasper was going to keep everyone feeling under control. Sarah came downstairs and everyone—especially Minnie—was delighted with her and Sarah insisted that, at eight-thirty, that Minnie put her to bed.

I found myself following them upstairs, poised silently outside the door, listening to Minnie reading to Sarah. Minnie was reading _Goodnight Moon_, a regular children’s literature staple, and then proceeded to read some typical fairy tales to her. When she shut the books, she was completely won over when Sarah asked for her to sing, as Sarah remembered that Minnie had sang with me in _Wicked_. After some emblematic songs—mainly that Disney princesses sang—I watched as Minnie kissed Sarah’s forehead and slipped from the room, just as I dashed downstairs to re-join the party.

Richard and I lay in his bed that night, fully-clothed as he still claimed that he wanted some sort of commitment from me before we did anything physical, just talking about the future. I casually asked him how he felt about my intention to murder my mother and Andy and his response was quick and effortless—that he would help me. I checked the media outlets as the sun came up, and it had been revealed that my mother had delivered her twin boys—Lucas and Francis—in New York. She stated that Andy and she were taking time off from publicity and settling in the Scarsdale neighborhood, in their luxury penthouse.

I told Alice, and she was able to do some digging and to give me their address, and quickly confirmed that there were no armed guards or security cameras of any kind on their property, so everything was ready. Richard and I ordered our tickets and packed our duffel bags and drove to Seattle, making good time and arriving around two hours before our flight was due to take off. I found I was perfectly calm at the prospect of killing my mother and found that I was quite pleased with everything. I’d blocked everything in my life with her, knowing that I had to appear as this perfect girl because that’s what she and Andy wanted to see and, if I hadn’t conformed, then it would have been worse for me.

Carlisle had begun to fabricate a cover story with some of his doctor friends over the past few months that I had been pregnant but, due to my young age and physical activity, I had been unable to show due to some rare genetic disorder I’d had. My water broke while I was out of town, which would explain me not being in Forks, and I’d come home with my sons—in reality, my brothers—in tow.

Jasper had also contacted J. Jenks to get birth certificates forged for Lucas and Francis, as well as forged return boarding passes and I.D.’s for me and for Richard—and we’d also been instructed to alter our appearances considerably—so everything was set. Jasper, it was decided, would be coming along with us as well, along with Alice, where Jasper would calm the babies down and ensure that they wouldn’t potentially blow our cover. The plan was to take separate routes—there were three to choose from—and enter the house from different angles and catch them all unawares. Alice would cut their phones wires and recalibrate their alarms so as they couldn’t signal for help, while Richard would get the twins and Jasper would be on hand to help with the murders.

After a seven-hour flight, Richard and I arrived at the Westchester County Airport, the closest airport to where my mother and Andy were living. He and I rented a car and drove the twenty or so minutes to the house, Alice and Jasper never too far from us. Each of us carried a disposable cell phone, and each of us wore protective gloves. All the others wore face masks except for me—I wanted to see their faces when I overpowered them. All of us parked a block away from the house, and Jasper manipulated the emotions of the few neighbors into thinking that everything was fine and not to disturb our work.

Alice slipped around the back of the house, special cutting tools in hand, and proceeded to dismantle the phone lines and alarm system, as the rest of us slipped inside as soon as the latter was cut. I sensed Andy in the kitchen, and nodded for Richard to slip upstairs but not to wake my mother under any circumstances. I stepped lightly into the kitchen, and Andy didn’t even move; he was dressed for jogging, and he was sipping a piping hot cup of coffee, all unawares.

“Andy.” My voice was smooth, cool, calculating. I was the predator now, and he couldn’t do anything to hurt me anymore.

He tensed and turned, nearly losing control of his coffee. “Beth?”

I smiled at him. “How are you?”

He shook his head. “No... No, no, no. You’re dead. You died almost a year ago. How are you here right now?”

“I was murdered, Andy,” I reply calmly, “but a wonderful doctor was able to bring me back to life, yet not as a human.”

“Beth...”

“That’s right,” I say, stepping closer to him. “I’m a vampire, Andy.”

He is gripping the counter behind him. “You won’t hurt me...”

“Oh?” I ask him. “And why would you think that? Why should I afford you the common luxury you denied me?”

“Now, Beth...”

I zoom towards him. “Don’t you dare ‘Now, Beth’, me, you sick bastard!” I hiss through my teeth at him. I grab him by the throat then; he struggles, but he is no match for me. “What’s the matter?” I ask him, quoting him. “What? Little boys _like_ this sort of thing—it’s how we say ‘I love you’ to them.”

“Beth...no...”

“Yes,” I whisper back to him. “Because ‘no’ means ‘yes’. Don’t you remember our little games, Andy? About how things must be kept secret? Well, you’re an excellent secret-keeper, Andy, you had everyone fooled—the media, the courts... Now it’s time for your sentencing, Andy. I sentence you to death,” I say through my teeth, baring them without a second thought and burying them in his neck.

He struggles against me, but I ignore his pathetic attempts to live, just as he ignored my attempts to have a childhood. His blood tastes rancid in my mouth and I promptly spit it out, shoving him up against the wall and proceeding to maul him like a big cat would, while Alice enters the room, setting the crime scene for a bobcat attack. I drop Andy’s lifeless body beside me, feeling utterly disgusting that his blood is on me. However, I know that, to shock my mother the most, it must be left there.

I catch her scent in the master bedroom upstairs and sneak up there, careful not to get any blood on anything as I make my way up to the top floor of the house. I dash across the landing and open her bedroom door, just as she is waking up in bed, not coherent enough to tell that it is not her dead husband coming to call. “Hello, Mother.”

She understandably stiffens in her bed, clearly shocked that I am living and breathing, for a lack of a better term. “Beth!” she cries out, shocked. “No...no! That’s impossible! You died... I heard... They said you were...”

“Dead?” I ask her, with a smile. “I am dead, Mother. I died a long time ago—almost five years ago, when you and Andy started dating and you let him do what he wanted, all the while looking the other way and letting him have his perverted away with me.” I flash a grin at her, exposing my fangs, and she nearly climbs up her elaborately-carved bed frame in fright. “Be afraid, Mother. Be very afraid.” I step closer to her. “I left your husband in a bloody mess downstairs—I killed him.”

“No, no!” she screams, moving to make a grab for her cell phone, charging beside her bed on a nightstand which matches her bed frame.

“Oh, no, no, no,” I say, zooming across her room and ripping it from her hands. I easily tear the piece of technology to pieces and toss them across the room—I could take care of that thing later. I watch as my mother makes a move to run for the bathroom—presumably to stick her head out the window and scream for help, but I wouldn’t let her get that far. I went across the room, more quickly than she did, and grabbed her roughly by the hair, covering her mouth as she attempted to scream. Pulling her head back, I whispered, “You are so dead, Mother—beyond dead. Today is the day you die...”

“My boys, my boys...” She whispers, begging me. “Don’t let them grow up without their mother, Beth, please, I’m begging you...”

I allow the laugh to escape my throat. “Oh, they won’t, Mother.” I turn her around then, still not releasing my grip upon her. “They won’t, because I’m going to adopt them. They’ll be my boys—and Sarah will be my daughter.”

My mother turns white. “You knew about Sarah?”

I shake my head. “Not until just recently. I have custody of her now—”

“You’re taking my children!” my mother attempts to scream, but I knock my face into hers, quite hard, although it does no damage to me, it hurts her. “Sarah...my baby girl...”

“Shut _up_, Mother!” I growl at her. “Don’t say that again!”

“What...what?!” she asks, confused.

“Sarah’s _mine_!” I growl at her. “And soon Lucas and Francis will be, too.”

“All I ever did was love you, Beth,” my mother moans, clearly in pain, due to her broken nose and the grip I still had on her hair. “Why are you doing this to me?”

I give her a mock-perplexed look. “Why, Mother, you reap what you sow,” I whisper to her in a deadly voice before leaning down and casually ripping her throat out, before spitting out her blood and leaving her in a bloody, lifeless heap upon the floor.

. . .

I step out of my mother’s bedroom carefully, making sure that I got rid of any bloody evidence before touching the expensive white paneling that seemed to decorate every inch of the house. I walked steadily down the hall, and looked up to see Richard, poised outside the nursery doorway. I make my way over to him, and he envelopes me in his arms, placing his forehead against mine.

“Is it done?”

I nod. “Yes.”

“Carlisle called Alice, and he thinks it would be less suspicious if we drove all the way back to Forks...”

“Forty-four hours for a human,” I muse softly to myself. “We’d need a car...”

“Alice got one,” Richard says.

I nod. “Of course she got a car already,” I say, a light laugh at the back of my throat before turning to the nursery. “How are the boys?”

“Sleepy,” he replies. “They didn’t wake up once during the execution.”

I smile ruefully. “Good...”

“Jasper will move Andy’s body to the bedroom and clean up the kitchen,” Richard affirms, holding me tighter. “Alice has the getaway vehicle, and she’s finished staging the crime scene to make it perfect...”

I nod. “Good.” I stand on my toes to kiss him on the cheek before walking into the nursery and bending over the crib. I am blown away by the sheer beauty of my brothers—they each sport pale brown hair, and their features are perfect. I bend completely over the crib then and lift them both effortlessly, before turning back to Richard, who picks up one of them and walks downstairs with me.

Alice and Jasper are waiting at the garage stationed at the back of the house, car seats already in place, with a full tank of gas. Jasper gets behind the wheel, while Alice slips beside him into the passenger seat. The twins, still asleep, settle easily into their car seats as Richard and I get comfortable next to them. Jasper revs the ignition and speeds inconspicuously towards the highway; he later explains that he can project his emotion manipulator to everyone passing by—including law enforcement—so as we’ll be able to get back to Forks as quickly as possible.

The hours’ tick by, and by dinner hour, we’re passing through North Dakota. The twins still don’t wake up, and Alice anticipates they won’t until we get to Montana, at least. When they do, Richard and I manage to get some formula together for them, and they drink it easily before falling back asleep. We drive through the rest of Montana and soon are on the correct highway as we enter Washington State. We drive the way of Tacoma so as we won’t have to take a ferry boat and potentially be subject to questioning. We make it to Poulsbo and continue along the highway, going over the Hood Canal Bridge, and I find myself admiring the beauty of the state around us. We continue along the 101 Highway and quickly manage to pass Sequim, not even stopping as we drive through Port Angeles until we return to Forks, and drive through the forest, up the drive, and towards our home as dawn threatens to break.

Rosalie, understandably, is the first one out of the house, a brilliant smile upon her face as she claps her hands as we all get out of the car. Emmett is right by her side, with Carlisle and Esme directly behind them, and Bella and Edward slipping out of the woods. I hesitate there, holding onto Lucas and Francis with Richard just as Sarah comes out of the house and stares, wide-eyed, at the babies in my arms. I turn to Rosalie then, who sees my anxiety and steps forward, offering her arms.

“My turn?” she asks.

I smile and nod, handing over the baby—I think it is Lucas—and watch adoringly as Rosalie looks so at peace. “Lucas,” I whisper to her, and she nods.

“And who’s this bad boy?” Emmett asks, coming up to Richard.

“This is Francis,” Richard replies, and Emmett takes him, and Francis wakes up.

“Hey, little man,” Emmett says to Francis, holding him a good few inches away from his body. “Just so you know, I’m going to keep it real straight with you... You’re going to be quite a little ankle biter one day, aren’t ya?”

I walk slowly up to Sarah and crouch down. “Hi, sweetheart.”

“Hi, Beth,” she replies. She peers around me then, taking in the twins. “They’re staying, aren’t they?” she asks.

I nod. “Yes, sweetheart. We’ve saved them.” I lean forward and kiss her forehead. “And someday, when you’re older, I can tell you the reason why, okay?”

“Okay... Beth?”

“Yeah?”

She sighs. “Can I talk to you?” she asks me, nodding to everyone else, and I lift her up and take her inside to her bedroom.

Sarah had accumulated many clothes and outfits for every occasion since moving it—it was lovely that Alice wanted to oversee her wardrobe and I hadn’t found fault with anything, so far. Today, Sarah was wearing a floral-pattered tea party dress with a silk ribbon that went around her middle, a flower adornment to the side of that. She wore white lace tights with it, as well as white Mary Janes, and a pink cashmere sweater. She wore pink flower barrettes in her hair, which were clipped just above her ears, and her lovely hair was brushed out, long and silky.

“Did Rosalie pick this out today?” I ask Sarah.

She nods. “Yes. She’s fond of pink.”

I nod back. “She is. Are you?”

“Yes,” Sarah replies, “but green is my favorite.”

“Mine, too,” I reply. “Now, what did you want to discuss?”

She sighs. “Are you going to be my mom?”

I find myself in shock; I did not expect this conversation... “Well, sweetheart, it’s early yet but is that something you would want?”

“I know I’m four, Beth, but the teachers... They said...”

I nod. “I know. I saw your file—you scored college-level constantly on every little thing they tested you on. That’s impressive.”

“So, I get it,” she tells me. “My favorite stories are by Roald Dahl, and I even I understand what he’s saying...”

I find myself smiling. “He _is_ good at writing,” I tell her.

“But that’s why I want to know,” she tells me. “I want to know if you want to be my mom because, if not, I’d like to find one while I’m still young and cute.”

I gasp at that. “Did someone say you weren’t young and cute?”

“No.” She shakes her head. “The ladies at the foster group home said that if you weren’t young and cute, then you wouldn’t get adopted...”

I pull her gently into my arms, not wanting to hurt her. “While it’s true that many families want younger children, sweetheart, that’s not the case for all families...”

She pulls back. “What about _this_ family?” she presses.

I take her by the hands. “Of course I want to be your mother,” I tell her. “Next month, after I turn eighteen, I’m adopting you.”

“But most places you have to be twenty-one,” Beth protested. “I looked it up.”

“Don’t worry about that,” I say swiftly. “Uncle Jasper knows somebody—the same somebody who helped us find you—who can get us the proper paperwork for me to adopt you.”

“And Richard?”

“What about Richard?”

“Do you love him?”

I let out a nervous laugh. “Well...”

“Do you?”

I kiss her forehead. “_That_ is a very complicated question.”

“Love shouldn’t be complicated.”

I nod. “I know, but sometimes when you get older, it can be... Why don’t you draw a welcome card for Lucas and Francis? They’ll be shown to the nursery shortly.”

“Where’s the nursery?”

“For now? My room,” I reply, and show Sarah to her desk with many varieties of colored paper, fabrics, feathers, sequins, every utensil known to man, as well as many other things that Esme had bought her.

I leave Sarah’s room and return to mine, where half has been decorated for Lucas and Francis’s arrival. As I grip the side of one of the rosewood frames—which could later be removed to make a twin-sized bed—and realize something: I had committed kidnapping and murder. If I was found out, ever found out, I would have to go into hiding until everyone who was linked to the crime in law enforcement was dead or do a trial, where I would probably get the death penalty. I find myself shaking, attempting to grasp the enormity of what I’d done. Yes, I’d saved the lives of three innocent children, but at what cost? I had killed the woman who’d given birth to me, _and _her husband...

“Don’t beat yourself up about it.”

Turning, I see Edward in the doorway. “Either your mind reading abilities have somehow strengthened or I let my shield down again...”

He chuckles. “I think it was the latter.” He comes to stand beside me. “Feeling remorse for your victims?” he guesses.

“’Fraid so,” I reply. “Can’t think of how I’m going to live with myself... I’m effectively getting away with murder and kidnapping here...”

“Oh, be careful,” Edward replies, “I think I just heard Charlie drive up...”

“Where?!” I demand, running towards the window, but not finding a police cruiser anywhere in sight. “Dammit, Edward! That’s not funny!”

He lets out a second chuckle. “Come on—lighten up. Rose has committed murder, I’ve committed murder...”

“Rosalie had cause, and so did you,” I say softly.

“Alice...”

“Was practicing vegetarianism—no malice,” I put in.

“Emmett...”

“You know as well as I do that he doesn’t do well with rules.”

“Jasper...”

I feel my jaw set. “He didn’t know any better. He thought what he was doing was all right, given all his army training...”

Edward looks at me curiously. “Hey, you okay?” he asks, putting a brotherly hand upon my shoulder. “You look...lost.”

I chuckle and meet his eyes. “I am lost. I just told Sarah I wanted to be her mother and she came back at me with, ‘Do you love Richard?’ How in the hell am I supposed to respond to a question like that?”

“She’s college-level in everything...”

“Yeah, so?”

“How about the truth?”

I shake my head. “I don’t...”

“You know,” Edward assures me, squeezing my shoulder before walking out of the room, a small smile on his face.

I turn back to the window, watching the world go by. Perhaps in a hundred years, I could stand motionless for long periods of time without the urge to hunt. Perhaps... It was then that I sensed Richard behind me, and leaned back as he stood behind me.

“You all right?”

I smile. “Of course I’m all right. How are you?”

“Fine.”

I turn back to him. “Good.”

“I may have listened in on your conversation with Sarah and with Edward.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Did you?”

He smiles. “I did. And I found something rather odd about it...”

“Yes?”

“You didn’t tell them if you loved me.”

“I thought it was a conversation we should have.”

He nods. “Fair enough.”

I shake my head. “But not yet.” I stand on my toes and brush my lips with his. “I just want to hunt and get the twins settled. Now is not the time.”

“Just tell me one thing,” he says, pulling me back into his arms.

“Anything,” I reply.

“Are you mine?”

“I’m yours,” I reply. “Forever.”

“Forever,” he tells me, pressing his lips to mine.


	6. No Lies & Alibies

_After ordering dessert, I find myself stiff from sitting during the meal, and want very much to get up and run from the table. Although I am overwhelmed by the kindness of Bella and Edward, I still don’t like or appreciate the way that they’re staring at me. Edward is looking at me like I’m his next meal or something, while Bella looks at me in confusion when she thinks I’m not making eye contact with her. After dessert comes and I’ve eaten it, I fail to beat Edward to the check, and he goes to the front counter to pay the bill, while I’m left alone with Bella._

_“How’s your dad doing?” she asks me casually._

_I shrug. “He works a lot...”_

_She smiles. “Yeah, I remember that. Charlie and I would only really have time to have dinner—he’d go fishing on the weekends...”_

_“I think my dad likes fishing,” I remark quietly._

_“He does,” Bella assures me. “He and my dad have become closer since Harry Clearwater’s death a few years back.”_

_“Heart attack?” I ask, attempting to remember correctly._

_Bella nods. “Yeah. Charlie married Sue a few years later—Leah and Seth, as you may have guessed, are Harry’s kids.”_

_I’m not stupid, I think to myself. “Yeah, I figured that out.” I gently move my spoon around the chocolate sauce left on my dessert plate. “How’s work at the hospital?”_

_“Carlisle has too many patients and so little time, it seems,” Bella replies. “But that’s what happens when you’re the head doctor of a small town.”_

_I feel my toes curling in my sneakers as Edward approaches, immense relief flooding through me when he says that we all should be heading back. I practically run for the door and find it shocking that they can keep up with me, but remind myself that, due to their behavior in the meadow, I shouldn’t be surprised. They walk me to my car, and I feel relief that my purchases are still in the back seat._

_“Clothes?” Edward guesses, nodding to the bags._

_I shake my head. “No. Just some books and...” I find my cheeks heat at my embarrassment of my collection. “A Russian nesting doll.”_

_“Those antiques where they get smaller and smaller?” Bella asks._

_I nod. “Yeah. I’ve been collecting them since I was a little girl. One of the only good things about my childhood, so it would seem,” I say softly, immediately cursing myself for almost giving away my darkest secret._

_“What was so bad about your childhood?” Edward asks._

_Immediately, I turn his way and smile at him. “Nothing I couldn’t handle,” I reply, looking down at my watch. “Damn. I’ll be late if I don’t leave now...”_

_Bella nods immediately, like she understands. “Go on. It’s cool.”_

_I smile at them. “Thanks,” I reply. “And thanks for dinner—that was really generous of you guys. I mean, you didn’t have to do that...”_

_Edward smiles. “It’s all right. We wanted to.”_

_“And I really appreciate it,” I reply, putting up my hand and waving to them as I get into my father’s car and head back onto the highway. Once I get out of town, I allow myself to breathe again; once I get out of the city limits, however, is when the questions immediately dart through my mind._

_They seemed so protective of me... Why? I was merely a blip on the screen when it came to the whole world’s population. What could I matter? Edward and Bella Cullen were beyond extraordinary, while I, of course, was merely ordinary..._

. . .

Richard and I went out for a hunt that evening, taking down a herd of deer and, upon our return, found Rosalie and Emmett putting the twins to bed. After Rosalie kissed the pair of them goodnight, she squeezed my hand as they trooped out together, giving the two of us the opportunity to gaze upon my brothers. They seemed calm, and I knew that fact was none other than Jasper’s handiwork, which I was not against. I leaned down and kissed them both myself, and both infants gripped tightly to Richard’s fingers and I wondered, in that moment, how good of a father he’d prove to be.

We left the twins alone, turning off one of the lights so as they were in the semi-darkness, taking one of the baby monitors with us, while Rosalie and Emmett had the other one in their bedroom. I went into Sarah’s bedroom, Richard behind me, and we read her a few stories before putting her to bed, knowing that her homework for the summer program she was involved in having been done on the car ride home. We two kiss her goodnight and leave the room then, knowing that Rosalie had already come in there herself. I knew how fond Rosalie was of young children, and it had significantly warmed her to me since bringing Sarah and the twins into the house; however, I knew that she still preferred our new member Katherine’s company.

Richard and I head into our bedroom then, keeping the light on and lying back in my large bed—he hardly ever went into his bedroom anymore. Although he and I hadn’t done anything at all, he still enjoyed the closeness that one could feel by merely lying together in my bed. As we lay there, he proceeded to play with my hair, and I found that I enjoyed it very much, due to the simplicity of it. I enjoyed physical contact, for the most part, and had allowed myself to melt down the walls formed by Andy, doing what he had done to me, all those times over the years.

“What do you think of Aspen?” Richard asked me quietly.

I shrug. “Lots of snow and big houses,” I reply.

He chuckles. “I inherited a house there...”

I raise an eyebrow. “Inherited?”

“Okay, bought,” he says, leaning over and kissing my forehead.

I am shocked. “How could you afford it?”

“Family fortune,” he replies easily. “Katherine and I returned to the house of our families once word got out that they died. Since neither of their wills had been updated, we simply took what was ours.”

I shrug. “I know some women would be mad at what you did, but I’m not. There are some things in my father’s house that I want...”

“Just your father’s?”

I nod. “Yes. I took everything I wanted from my mother’s house when I left.”

“What’s there that you want?”

“Books, mostly,” I confess. “And a collection I kept.”

“You collected?”

“One thing,” I reply, “although I did have many rocks in my bedroom...”

“What did you collect?”

“Russian nesting dolls,” I reply, still a little embarrassed.

Richard smiles. “Well, there is _nothing_ ordinary about you, Beth,” he says. “Anyhow, I was wondering if you wanted to take a trip with me.”

“To Aspen?”

“Yes,” he replies. “We could invite Alex and Katherine, if you like, or Edward and Bella, or Emmett and Rosalie...”

“Or all of them,” I say. “And Alice and Jasper and Carlisle and Esme...”

“Of course, there is the obstacle of the children,” Richard says.

I purse my lips. “Maybe Rosalie and Emmett could...”

There is a sound in the hallway of steps as nimble as a dancer as my bedroom door opens and Rosalie stands there. “Emmett and I would love to watch the children while you go away for a few days,” she says before leaving us alone.

I feel my phone buzz then, and Alice and Jasper agree to stay behind to hang out with the kids as well. Tapping my finger to the side of my phone, Carlisle writes to tell me that Esme has an appointment in Port Townsend to discuss the architecture of a Victorian house, and he’s booked solid at the hospital, so they wouldn’t be able to come either. Then, a text from Bella comes, telling me that Jacob and Renesmee are going out of town for their first-ever anniversary, so they’d love to come.

“The house is designed in wings,” Richard tells me. “Bella and Edward could have the luxurious guest wing on the other side of the house.”

“How big we talking?” I ask, rolling over so as I am lying on top of him. “You know as well as I do that vampires have excellent hearing.”

Richard chuckles. “Three acres, give or take,” he replies. “It also has an outdoor pool, an indoor sauna and hot tub, a library, a study, a formal dining room... Anything you could imagine, it has.”

“A home theater?” I ask, knowing I could be grasping at straws.

“I installed one about fifteen years ago,” Richard replies. “Katherine and I use it as another house every generation or so. If we alter our appearance enough, we can pass for relatives of the original owner.”

“Meaning you?” I ask him.

“Meaning me.”

“And, tell me, what kind of hunting grounds are we talking about?”

“The mountains nearby offer bighorn sheep, and the Aspen Forest offers bobcat, lynx, mountain lion, black bear, and sometimes you can find wild bison...”

“Bison?” I whisper, remembering the abnormally large, furry animal that had haunted more than one nightmare I’d had as a child. “And they’re...?”

“Sweet,” Richard replies. “Like candy.”

My phone buzzes again and, upon looking at it, I see it is a text from Edward. I find myself chuckling when the words, ‘We’re in’ light up my screen.

. . .

Richard’s inherited house in Aspen was something straight out of one of those Hallmark Channel original Christmas movies where a small-town girl gets the opportunity of a lifetime to meet and fall in love with a rich guy. Totally drool worthy Richard was, yet I found myself merely widening my eyes in shock—vampires, except for Emmett, weren’t really ones for theatrics. At that thought, I see Edward laugh at me, and I know that I should work on building up my shield again. Shooting him a look, he quickly wipes the smile from his face and turns to see something that Bella is indicating.

Richard showed Edward and Bella their guest suite on the other side of the house, and I smiled at Bella’s knowing look as Edward asked a question about the architecture. Bella pulled me into the hallway, and called out to Richard that we were checking out the library, which was a perfectly conceivable explanation. She pulled the doors shut as we went into the attic library; if we barely spoke above a whisper, I knew full well that—due to the thick walls—Richard and Edward wouldn’t be able to hear us. She fixed me with a look, my vampire sister, and took my hands in hers.

“Do you and Richard intend to...?”

“Nothing’s been said,” I reply. “I know that Edward wouldn’t with you until you two were married, but...”

Bella waves that away. “It was more than that—I wanted to make love while I was still human, but he refused, and that’s how marriage got put onto the table. That, and I wanted to be immortal like him. I had a choice, and Rosalie...”

“Thought you were choosing wrong?” I guessed.

She nodded. “Yeah, pretty much. But when she heard about the baby—we weren’t able to know the gender—she promised to protect me and did, with Emmett and Esme’s support on the situation. Emmett agreed because he won’t go against Rosalie; Esme agreed because she killed herself after she lost her son.”

“That is unfortunate,” I say softly.

“Regardless, I want you to be careful. Hey, no need for birth control, right?” she asks, and we find ourselves laughing, knowing that is something Emmett would ask.

I shrug. “Seems like a moot point if you ask me...”

“Regardless, I know what it’s like to lose someone,” she replies. “You heard that, on my last birthday as a human, that Jasper tried to kill me?”

I nod. “Yes, Alice mentioned it during my training with Jasper. I think she was making sure that I wouldn’t go near humans as potential boyfriend material...”

Bella laughs softly. “Well, Edward left soon afterwards—I spent several months just barely surviving, not even living properly. He said he did it to protect me, and I respect that, but I would give anything to obliterate those memories entirely.”

“Carlisle once said that human memories have the potential to fade,” I say, not knowing if I should believe my creator or not.

Bella shrugs. “Time is a funny thing—never-ending for us now, due to our immortality. All I know is that I still remember my human life, because it was not so long ago. Perhaps the Volturi don’t remember theirs, but they’ve been around far longer.”

“Edward says that Aro likes to collect vampires,” I say.

Bella nods. “Yes—he’s wanted Edward and Alice for quite a long time, and has referred to me as ‘a prize’ on more than one occasion...”

“He’s got those twins—Jane and Alec—who can inflict pain and blind you?”

“Yes.”

I sigh. “He’s seen Alice’s thoughts?”

“Yes, but not recently, unless he’s managed to get a vampire who can chart Alice’s own abilities from across the globe...” She shakes her head. “What are you thinking?”

“That maybe Aro didn’t intend to kill me...”

“Beth...”

“No, I’m serious. Sure, he did a number on me, but he didn’t do it too terribly far from where our coven is. Perhaps he saw Alice’s thoughts and believed that she would alert Carlisle about my apparent demise...”

“Thus, Alice alerting Carlisle to save your life...”

“...and to turn me into one of you,” I finish. “There’s no way to know, of course, unless we were to go to Italy...”

There is a crash and bang from below as Richard and Edward burst through the door to the library, Richard to my side and Edward to Bella’s in not even a second. Their eyes are blazing—not with anger, but with fear and concern. Both of their arms come around us then, and Edward ushers Bella from the room, but not before whispering, “Neither of you are going anywhere near Italy.”

“Richard, you can’t continue to be so overprotective of me,” I tell him quietly, as I hear both Bella and Edward heading into their bedroom at the opposite end of the house. “I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

“You will not be going anywhere near Italy, Beth. That’s final.”

I cannot stand his grip upon me, and suddenly I want to run. I manage to break away from him and open the attic window, whereupon I land flawlessly some fifteen feet below. I take off for the woods, not wanting to be controlled by anyone, and keep running, farther and deeper into the surrounding trees. I cannot believe Richard—he had no right to control me, for we’d not established being mates yet! And, even if we were, I reasoned, he had no right to forbid me from wanting to know more about my transformation. That’s all it was, right? I had no intention of joining the Volturi...

But the thoughts of Richard attempting to hijack my life returned, and I let out a scream; I went towards a tree trunk, intending to electrocute it, but something incredible happened instead. Instead of lightening, flames shot forth from my fingertips and burned it to a crisp. I must confess I became quite frightened when it spread to a wildfire, and I made my way through the flames and up a cliff, desperate to see the damage I’d caused. Thinking quickly, I produced a mighty rain shower which killed the flames entirely, and I noticed that, due to my quick actions, I’d only destroyed a dozen trees or so.

Shaking in the rain, I made no effort to put it out as I ran back to the house, my thoughts turning black. Thunder crackled in the distance as I opened the front door, dripping into the ancient foyer as I made my way down the corridor. As I raised my eyes, I spotted Bella and Edward standing there, their eyes wide with questions. I bit my lip, cursing myself for the momentary pain it brought me, and leaned against the elaborate cherry wood banister of the grand staircase.

“Yes,” I said softly. “That was me.”

Edward ran a hand through his hair. “You’d better call Carlisle.”

I sighed, knowing he was right, and breezed down the various hallways, making my way to the living room where I’d put my laptop on a coffee table. Since I’d breezed so quickly, I was no longer dripping, so I felt comfortable sitting on the expensive couch as I opened my laptop and logged in. I selected the Skype icon and pressed the green telephone sign and waited for Carlisle to answer the call. When he did, his amber eyes showed concern, and I immediately straightened on the couch.

“There was an...incident,” I say quietly.

He nods. “I figured as much when Alice saw you running from Richard after an argument between the two of you,” he replies, no animosity in his tone. “I’m pleased that you feel comfortable enough to tell me about it.”

“Well, you’re the ultimate authority when it comes to our vampirism,” I say, letting out a light chuckle; I adored Carlisle—he was my father now—but, by the same token, I didn’t want him to think I was some overdramatic teenager with boy drama. “I was speaking to Bella earlier and had an epiphany, before Richard and Edward interrupted us with their, erm, concern...”

“What sort of epiphany?” Carlisle asks, leaning forward.

I sigh. “Aro knows exactly where you live, right?” I ask him. “I mean... He came with the Volturi and the Guard when they assumed Renesmee was an immortal child...”

He nods. “Yes. Aro and the rest of them don’t get out much—they’ve never been to the house or anything like that—but they know the specifics of where we live. They also know what kind of lifestyle we wish to live—while I lived with them, I remained a strict vegetarian, much to their chagrin, but they couldn’t sway me...”

“I remember,” I assure him softly.

“But, why do you ask?” he wants to know. “Did Alice tell you that she saw something? Or did Edward read someone’s mind?”

I shake my head. “No, nothing like that—I came up with this theory on my own. I was just thinking...”

“Thinking about what?”

“I was thinking that if Aro knows where you live, then maybe he had someone watching us in case one of us got out of line again. After I saw Bella and Edward in the meadow, it was only natural for us to assume that Aro wished my elimination. But even Bella told me that Aro likes collecting powerful vampires... What if he managed to find a vampire that would somehow predict that I could do...so much...?”

“So much?” Carlisle asks. “Your basic skills are wonderful, while your self-control is off the charts... Your ability to control the weather is extraordinary, while your psychokinesis is some of the best I’ve seen... And even Eleazar was impressed by your shield...” He quickly leans forward. “Has there been a new development?”

I nod. “Yes. After my disagreement with Richard about going to the Volturi...”

“We’ll get back to that in a moment,” Carlisle says, his voice like a stern father. “But what happened?”

I sigh. “I ran out the window—we were in the library of the attic—and I ran into the woods to think. I thought initially to hunt, but first, I had to put some distance between us. I ran and ran and came to a tree—I thought I’d pull it out of the ground, but...”

“But?”

“I set fire to it,” I reply. “I couldn’t explain it. The fire spread, so I climbed onto a cliff and made it rain to take the fire out. It worked...” I pull my knees upwards to my stomach. “I mean, could I manipulate the elements like Benjamin, or...?”

Carlisle shakes his head. “No, I think you possess a different gift altogether...”

“What gift?” I whisper.

My adoptive father’s expression resembles a combination of shock and awe. “I think you can control natural disasters,” he replies.

. . .

At Carlisle’s suggestion, I bought a ticket to Denali for the very purpose of speaking to Eleazar about my newfound gift. The closest flight I’d been able to book wasn’t for another two days, forcing me to confront Richard at least once. Edward had spoken to Richard about going easy on me, and I’d spent some quality time with Bella in preparation for my meeting with the Denali Coven. Bella helped me in getting my shield completely down, so as Eleazar would be able to read me more clearly.

Finally, Bella and I went out for a hunt, easily tracking down a herd of bison in preparation for my less-than-two-hour flight to Denali from Aspen. I easily took down two males, and found that their blood was just as sweet as Richard had promised. At Bella’s suggestion, she and I headed into town to explore a bit—Bella wanted to check out a bookstore—and, as we walked down the sidewalk, I spotted a luxurious-looking department store that was called Burberry. Never one for clothes—much to Alice’s disappointment and Bella’s delight—I found myself drawn to a particular dress in the impeccable window display. It was an above-the-knee length red dress with a barely-there scoop neck; it had short sleeves, barely to the elbow, and was made from lace.

Bella smiled, pleased that I’d found something I’d liked, and was willing to go into the store with me, after seeing a sweater on a mannequin close to the back that she insisted upon trying on. I asked for the dress in my size, a four, and was pleased when the woman—who seemed to judge on appearances only and could tell that both Bella and I were dressed in designer clothing, courtesy of Alice—and seemed more than willing to help us. She told me her name was Chelsea, and her co-worker, Pippa, would be assisting Bella while she herself went back to bring out my size.

I went back to the dressing room, per Chelsea’s instructions, and was assigned a number by a third employee, Nathalia. Chelsea returned, dress in tow, and unlocked the dressing room door for me and I headed inside, putting the dress up upon the provided hook. I unzipped my knee-length boots and my jeans, followed by my faux fur and wool winter coat, and my white ruffled blouse. I manage to get the dress on over my head without difficulty, and feel very silly as I preen before the mirror, and one of the sporadic fond memories of my childhood overtakes me—playing dress-up solo. Despite the nearly sixteen-hundred-dollar price tag, it is merely a dip in the massive bucket of water that I’m permitted to, so I decide to buy the dress.

I hand over the dress to Chelsea after I’ve finished dressing, and she takes it up front for me, where Bella is standing, in the process of buying the sweater. Both articles of clothing are wrapped in quick succession in tissue paper, whereupon they’re put into the customary department store box. Bella and I hand over our credit cards to Pippa and Chelsea respectively, and they’re run through the system and immediately approved. The two employees hand us each our bags, containing the box of clothes we’ve purchased, and smile at the pair of us.

“Sister?” Chelsea asks.

“Sisters-in-law,” Bella replies politely.

“Oh?” Pippa inquires.

“I’m the younger sister of her husband,” I say patiently.

“Ah,” Chelsea says, and we two nod to the women before slipping out of the store.

We continue along the sidewalk, stopping briefly in the bookstore, where Bella buys a book about Germany, where Edward had promised to take her later that year. We then head back to the center of town, hailing a Lincoln Town Car to return us back to the house belonging to Richard. We pay the generous man, and slip from the house, and I notice that he looks disappointed at Bella’s wedding ring, which she never took off—not even to hunt, she was so careful. We slip into the foyer of the estate, watching clandestinely from the window as the man drives away from there and down the icy road, while Bella heads upstairs, keeping her promise to get Edward out of the house for the evening so I have the proper amount of privacy to speak to Richard.

Once Edward and Bella have left, I count down the minutes, when, suddenly, it has happened at long last. The minutes roll-over to midnight, and I am technically eighteen years old. Heading upstairs, I take a long bath in the massive tub before blow drying my hair and putting on the barest hint of makeup. I paint my fingernails and toenails red and slip on my new dress as soon as they’ve dried, and slip into the bedroom where I know that Richard is.

“Richard.”

He turns around then, raising his eyebrows in a vampire’s version of shock. “Hello, Beth,” he says softly. “Happy birthday.”

I smile. “Thank you.”

A small smile invades the corner of his mouth. “Natural disaster creator, huh?”

I lean up against the wall, lowering my eyes. “Yeah, apparently so...” Then, I raise my eyes to his, and hesitate. “Richard...”

“Yes?”

I sigh. “I don’t understand this... Are we mates? I don’t know what’s to be said at this point... I mean, I’m not in high school anymore, and I’m eighteen. If you want me, you need to want all of me...”

“Is that what you think?” he asks. “That I don’t want you?”

I shrug. “I don’t know what you want. That’s why I’m asking.”

Richard approaches me then, locking his arms around my waist in quick succession. “Beth, I want you to understand something—I will never not want you. Ever. I really want you to understand that... Beth, look at me. Please.”

I raise my eyes to his. “What?”

“I may be a vampire, but I was a man first. Had I seen you in the hospital when I was dying, I would have fought for my right to live as a human.”

“I’m not a human, Richard, I’m a vampire...”

“I know that. All I’m saying is that, I’d love you either way.”

I feel myself gasp. “Love?”

He smiles. “Yes, of course, Beth. I’d love you if we were humans, or if only one of us was a vampire. If you were a mermaid and I was a prince, I’d love you. If you were a princess and I was a werewolf, I’d love you. I’d love you no matter what you were, and I hope the same applies to me...”

“You love me?” I whisper.

Richard nods. “I love you.”

“I love you, Richard,” I whisper, standing on my toes to kiss him. I press my forehead against his. “If you were a wizard and I was a unicorn, I would love you.”

“But then I could cast a spell and turn you into a human girl,” he jokes.

I return his laugh. “Well, I suppose it would all depend upon your powers, and whether or not a witch had cast a spell on me.”

He looks around me then, and then turns to peer out the window. “Tell me... Are we alone here, Beth?” he asks.

I nod. “Yes. Edward and Bella went off for a midnight hunt or something.”

He nods, lowering his eyes to take in my new dress fully for the first time. “I like this. Did you buy it in town?”

“Yes. At this place called Burberry.”

“They’ve got those shops all over—even in Europe or the Middle East.”

I raise my eyebrows. “Don’t you like it?”

He grins. “Of course—it goes wonderfully with your skin.”

“Shall I keep wearing it?” I ask him.

His eyebrows knit together. “What?”

I grin up at him, enjoying myself. “Well, perhaps if I were to take it off...”

“Beth, I don’t think...”

“Then don’t think,” I reply, standing on my toes again. I lean into him, covering his mouth with mine, a sound of delight escaping my throat as he pulls me into the center of the massive bed and turns off the light.

. . .

Richard was surprised with the second ticket to Denali from Aspen, but seemed excited at the prospect of our first solo plane trip together. Bella and Edward would remain in Aspen for the remainder of the week and fly back to SeaTac before driving up to Forks themselves while Richard and I got to the bottom of things. We touched down in Denali, while Richard flashed his over-twenty-five I.D., thus enabling us to rent a car. I showed off my twenty-one-and-older I.D., just for safety, as we got into our borrowed SUV. We drove from the airport the five minutes from the home of the Denali Coven, and parked the car among the ever-present snow drifts close to the entryway.

Wrapped in our expensive winter coats, Richard and I got out of the car, immediately seeming to gravitate towards one another, locking hands. We watched as Tanya, Kate and Garrett, and Eleazar and Carmen trooped out of the house. They all looked perplexed at Richard’s appearance, and, after I introduced them, Tanya stepped forward, her strawberry blonde curls dancing in the slight breeze which picked up.

“Beth, is everything all right?” she asks. “Carlisle didn’t call...”

“Actually, Tanya, he called me,” Eleazar says softly, not wanting to go against his coven leader. “Carlisle was wondering about Beth’s potential new gift.”

“New gift?” Kate asks, snapping to attention. “What new gift?”

I swallow slightly, cursing myself at the mundane, human-like tendency. “I’m going to put my shield down so you can shock me,” I tell her.

“No!” Richard cries, moving, positioning himself in front of me.

“Richard, it’s fine,” I say, putting a hand upon his shoulder. “Remember, it only seemed to manifest when I was very angry at you. I think, perhaps, if Kate were to shock me...”

“You’d set off to a boiling point, thus allowing your ability to manifest,” Kate nods. “I like it, although I’m kind of nervous that you’ll go off on me...”

I put up my hand. “I swear, I won’t. Shield coming down now,” I say, letting out a sigh as I feel it falling away from me. I suddenly feel lighter, almost as if I’d been involved in an intense workout, or if I’d been carrying heavy luggage for a long period. “You can shock me at any time, Kate. I’m ready.”

Kate sighs, stepping forward and extending her index finger towards the center of my palm, the electricity bubbling just beneath the surface. She then closes the distance between us entirely, pressing the print of her finger, making direct contact onto my skin. I watch as she concentrates, and I realize then that it is barely affecting me.

“Harder,” I whisper.

Nodding, she turns it on full blast. I feel my body seizing up then, but force myself not to fall to my knees like some weakling. I find I am shaking all over and, finally, after about a full minute, Kate releases me from her electricity. I then take the opportunity to fall to my knees, my hands—firm fists—plummeting to the ground with great force. The moment they meet the ground, a great shaking overtakes the surrounding area, and I raised my eyes to Eleazar, whose eyebrows shot upwards.

“Can you make it stop?” he asks.

Not knowing what to do, I flatten my hands then, gripping the shaking earth, willing it to stop. After what seems like an eternity, after a sheer force of will, it does, and I find that there is no damage to the surrounding area, thankfully. Getting to my feet, I brush off the snow still attached to me, while Richard pulls my hand forward, examining it for any form of foul play.

“I’m fine,” I assure him.

“More than fine, I should think,” Garrett puts in.

“Extraordinary,” Carmen breathes.

“Never seen anything like it,” Tanya says softly.

“Amazing,” Kate allows.

“Carlisle’s assessment was indeed correct,” Eleazar says, looking me over. “You started a wildfire back in Colorado, you said?”

I nod. “Yes. An accidental one, but yes.”

“I don’t think you’re simply limited to earthquakes and wildfires, however,” Eleazar goes on expertly. “I think you’d also be able to cause an avalanche or landslide, as well as a blizzard, or a volcanic eruption, sinkhole, floods, tsunami, or a limnic eruption...”

My eyebrows knit together. “A what?” I ask.

“A lake overturn,” Eleazar replies. “Quite rare—I’ve never seen one, however, it could be very beneficial in battle, if a body of water was close by. Carbon dioxide comes out of the waters of the lake which can kill humans, wildlife, and livestock, due to the formation of a cloud of gas.”

“So, is it stemmed from my ability to control the weather, or...?”

“No,” Eleazar says. “I think this is just a larger part of it—the two are related, but I feel that you may want to practice it a bit more. You may want to be able to pull it off in a more efficient manner.”

“You mean, me not necessarily being angry to pull it off?”

“Exactly,” Eleazar replies.

Although the Denali’s asked us to stay, Richard and I declined, instead returning the rental car and managing to book a connecting flight back to SeaTac Airport. Upon arrival, we took the car left for us in the parking lot—my car—and journeyed back up Northwest. I felt content then, in Richard’s company, and found I was looking forward to getting back to Sarah and the twins.

The normal three-and-a-half-hour drive took us just under an hour, and I wasn’t shocked at all to see no lights on in the Cullen house as we drove up onto the property. I took my customary parking spot a few yards from the front door, while Richard and I took our luggage out of the trunk and made our way towards the door. Fishing out my key, I unlocked it and, upon stepping over the threshold, the lights suddenly came on and the Cullen’s, the Denali’s, and the Black and Uley Packs were standing there, clapping and cheering at our arrival.

A massive banner decorated the doorway leading into the living room, the words “HAPPY EIGHTEENTH BIRTHDAY, BETH!” in curled, pink letters. Peering through the crowd, I also spotted Theo and Chadwick on each other’s arms, who waved at me. Minnie was also there with her latest boyfriend Tom, and I beamed with pride as Sarah bounded up to me and held out her arms to be picked up. I lean down and pick up Sarah, and proceed to greet everyone, with Richard’s arm around my shoulders, and find that I am growing accustomed to our little family, and wonder if, one day, Richard will ask me to marry him.

Rosalie emerges from the crowd about half an hour later and takes Sarah upstairs to bed, and we two share a smile. After Alice announces that it is time for gifts to be exchanged, I sit down on the couch between Bella and Richard, with Edward, Theo, and Chadwick standing behind me, with Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, Jasper, Alice, and Rosalie looking on. I take each and every card and gift to heart, but the most special are those from the Cullen family—_my _family.

Edward and Bella had gotten me half a dozen antique Russian nesting dolls, directly from Russia itself; Rosalie had gotten me a collection of first-edition Jane Austen letters and novels; Emmett had gotten me the not-so-subtle gift of official soundproofing foam for my bedroom; Jasper had gotten me the latest laptop, along with a flash drive which had all my important work from my former computer downloaded onto it; and I was quite shocked when Alice handed me a key.

“What’s this?” I ask her.

“For a new car,” she replies. “You’ll need something to drive while you’re over at Oxford next fall.”

I smile. “Thank you, Alice. You’re too kind.”

“I picked it out,” Jasper puts in, chuckling slightly.

“I just wanted to be the one to hand over the key,” Alice says, kissing Jasper on the cheek before giving me a binder. “_This_ is actually from me.”

“A list of do’s and don’ts in fashion?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “That list is for another time.”

I shrug and begin to open the book before Alice stops me. “What’s wrong?” I ask her, and find I am confused.

“Carlisle and Esme should go first,” she says, stepping back.

I set the book aside and get to my feet, and go into Carlisle and Esme’s welcoming arms. “I think I should be afraid...”

Esme laughs. “Not a chance.”

Carlisle reaches into his pocket and produces a key himself. “This was in my family when I was a small boy. I inherited it after mountains of unnecessary paperwork and Esme very painstakingly restored it.”

“It?” I ask, practically shaking.

“A house,” Esme replies, touching my cheek. “A house that Carlisle and I want you and Richard, Sarah, and the twins to have while the two of you are studying at Oxford University this fall.”

“Now you can see my present,” Alice says, picking up the book and handing it back to me, as graceful as a ballerina.

I take the book from her, and discover that it is full of resumes. “What’s all this?” I ask her, looking at some of the pictures. “Who are these people?”

“Nannies,” Alice explains, “for Sarah and the boys.”

I smile at her. “Very thoughtful, Alice.” I sigh then, remembering those few precious times I’d spent birthdays with my father, and knew that, now it was time. I found I needed a few moments alone, so I conveyed as much to Richard and walked out the back door, almost unnoticed, as the pounding of the music began again. As I neared the edge of the woods, I debated whether or not to go for a hunt, when suddenly an overwhelming odor of wet dog filled my nose.

“Just me.”

Turning, I saw Embry standing behind me. I hadn’t spoken to him since our minor yet amusing misunderstanding at Christmas and crossed my arms. “How can I help you at this moment, Embry?”

He sighs, running a hand through his hair. He was about two inches taller than Richard, and his skin was russet to our pale. He steps forward then, and looks as if he could cry, and I remember the sensation of tears falling from my eyes and down my face. “I’ve just got to say this, Beth...”

“Say what?”

“I know you’re kind of with Richard and everything, but...”

“But what?”

He bites his lip. “But I don’t _want_ you to be with Richard, Beth. I know we don’t really talk much or anything but I...”

“Embry, no...”

“No, I have to say this,” he says firmly. “With werewolves, we’re in each other’s heads all the time—it’s awful! So, they...they all know...”

“They all know what?”

He shakes his head before closing the distance between us and grabs me by my humerus and, before I have time to react completely, dips his head down and kisses me. His grip is so tight upon me that I find I cannot move, and I am completely frozen. When I remember who I am, what I am, and who he is—_what_ he is—I pull away from him. Glaring at him, I know full well I’d be sobbing if I was a typical teenage human girl.

“Damn you, Embry Call!” I hiss through my teeth, taking off into the house. I head in to the back door, just as I hear the telltale sign of clothes ripping and a howl as Embry inevitably heads into the woods to forget his shame. With gritted teeth, I bypass the party entirely and head up the staircase via the kitchen entrance to the main hall and head directly into my bedroom. Shaking, I proceed to throw clothes into a laundry pile versus a put away pile, methodically trying to forget Embry’s lips on mine...

“Beth.”

Turning, I see Richard standing there, and I immediately close the distance between us and kiss him, feeling as if I could come undone at any moment. “I’m sorry, Richard... I’m so, so sorry...”

“Edward told me what happened...”

“He _watched _it?!” I cry out in anguish.

“No. He read Embry’s mind.”

I shake my head. “I swear, I didn’t want it to happen...”

“Do you feel anything for Embry?” Richard asks. “I won’t fault you, I promise.”

I shake my head again. “No. I love you, Richard.”

He nods. “All right.” He sighs. “Do you want to go see your father?”

I nod. “Yes, we probably should.”

The party dies down within two hours and Alice is an expert at getting the guests to clear out in an orderly fashion. She has made a list of everything I’ve received corresponding to the person’s name and tells me to get on the thank-you notes by the following day. I quickly assure her that I will, and leave the Cullen house in my car, Richard riding shotgun, as we make our way across town.

My father’s house hadn’t changed, I mused inwardly as I parked on the street just in front of it. The stone steps were the same, and its color, which I could just make out as the sun set all around us. Richard took my hand, and I nodded, knowing that the inevitable was coming as he and I got out of the car and made our way up the stairs and knocked on the door. I heard my father’s footsteps coming down the fraction of the hallway from the living room, and I heard him unlocking the door from the other side.

Relief flooded through me as we made eye contact, and I crossed my fingers that he would not suffer a heart attack. “Hi, Dad,” I say softly.

“Beth!” he says, quickly choking up and shaking his head. “They... They... Dr. Cullen said you were dead...”

I sigh. “He just signed off without seeing the body—a rookie doctor assured him that it was me,” I reply, going with the cover story that we’d come up with and rehearsed for this very moment. “It was a rookie mistake, and I’m so sorry. I was in the hospital for a very long time and I couldn’t speak to identify myself. Finally, when I was well enough, I was brought to Seattle for some plastic surgery—that’s why I don’t look one-hundred-percent like me, Dad, that’s why...”

“Where have you been staying?”

“With the Cullen’s,” I reply. “I... Dad, please don’t hate me, but they’ve become like a family to me, and I...”

“You’re the Beth Cullen who graduated from the high school last month?” he asks, and I can see the shock in his eyes.

I nod. “Yes.”

“Why didn’t you come back?”

I shake my head. “I can’t tell you that.”

“Did they keep you there against your will?!” he demands, his eyes sliding in an accusatory manner to Richard. “Who’s this? Your jailer?”

“No, Dad!” I cry. “Don’t be ridiculous!”

“Who is he, then?”

“Richard Kingsley, Chief Partridge,” Richard says, putting out his hand.

Dad takes Richard’s hand, and stiffens at its coldness. “And you are?”

“I’m Beth’s boyfriend,” Richard replies, for he knows as well as I do that the term ‘mate’ probably wouldn’t fly with my father.

My father looks to me to Richard and back again before sighing. Clearly, my father is at a loss for what to do. He knows as well as I do what day it is, and, while Carlisle, Esme, and the rest of the Cullen’s could potentially go down for kidnapping, however, a look enters his eyes when Richard begins to speak.

“Chief Partridge, sir, you wouldn’t want to upset the family dynamic forged between your daughter and the Cullen’s, would you?” Richard asks, sincerely.

My father immediately shakes his head. “No. No, of course not. I wouldn’t want to upset the family dynamic forged between my daughter and the Cullen’s.”

“In fact, you will keep your daughter’s survival a secret from anyone who comes sniffing around, won’t you?” he continues.

“I’ll keep my daughter’s survival a secret from anyone who comes sniffing around,” Dad assures the two of us.

Richard smiles. “Good.”

“Dad?” I ask, and the glazed look on my father’s face fades away and he turns back to me, anticipating my next statement. “Richard and I are going to Oxford in the fall. We move to England in a few weeks.”

“What are you two going to study?” he asks.

“Law,” Richard replies. “I want to work with the human rights division.”

“And you, sweetheart?” Dad asks me.

To tell the truth, I hadn’t given the future of my education any thought. I thought I’d just get a degree in any old thing—after all, now I had all the time in the world. But now, now that I was being asked, the only answer that seemed logical popped into my head. I realized the _only_ logical answer, had been standing in front of me this whole time, and I’d never even considered it before now, yet, when it came right down to it, I knew exactly what I wanted in life, and what career I wanted.

“I want to be a children’s oncologist,” I reply, finding relief in identifying something for my future, and knowing it would please Carlisle as well.


	7. The Vow

_I arrived home later that evening and managed to pull my father’s car appropriately into the driveway without causing any untoward scratches or dents to it. I was fully aware of the law enforcement officer living across the street, and I knew full well that if something hit the fan, he’d be the first to know about it. I slid out of the car, purchases in tow, and locked the car door behind me; heading up the small set of stairs proved not to be a challenge as I managed to find my house key and let myself in._

_I go upstairs and add my new Russian nesting doll to the collection, as well as filing away the books I’d bought on their appropriate shelves. Perching on the end of my bed, I took out my cell phone, finding a text from my father, saying that he was pulling a double and wouldn’t be home until three o’clock the next day. That meant that he had two days off, so I made a mental note to go shopping the following day and buy a few cookbooks online and to get some suitable groceries for the house. Meat would definitely be on the menu, I then reasoned as I picked up a book and made myself comfortable._

_I awoke the following morning at around nine-thirty a.m. and decided to get up. I went to my en suite bathroom to grab a shower, before blow-drying my hair and selecting a pair of jeans and a T-shirt at random. One of my many pairs of sneakers completed the ensemble; I had decided to go shopping first, whereupon I’d come home and go for a run, deciding then to finalize what I would be making for dinner. I head downstairs, pulling on a light sweater as I go, and make a grab for my father’s keys, deciding to fill up on gas on the way to the only supermarket in town, the Thriftway._

_I get twenty dollars’ worth of gas for my father’s car before putting hand sanitizer on my hands as I get back into his car. I drive back on the main street, passing Forks High School, and mentally wonder what it will ultimately be like to be a student there. I arrive at the Thriftway promptly, parking the car and heading inside, grabbing a grocery cart. I find I can hear the rain on the roof above, and I know that I will have to run from the entrance and back to the car to avoid getting wet. I buy some chicken—breasts and three whole ones—, steaks, sausages, and meatballs from the meat department before heading over to the produce section, picking out some potatoes and leeks as well as ready-made Caesar salad kits._

_I go to the pasta aisle and pick out various shapes of the simple carbohydrate and go to the dairy section and buy a wide variety of cheeses as well. I even bought a few baking essentials, including but not limited to baking powder and soda, as well as the official Panko breadcrumbs. Garlic powder was also a must-have for the cabinet too, as I’d realized my father only kept salt and pepper in the house. I bought a dozen of brown, AA cage-free eggs and puttered around the store, wondering if I needed to get anything else. Thinking that I’d bought enough, I go into the check-out line, using the credit card used for food money and accepted the bags from the clerk._

_Heading out into the rainstorm, I quickly make my way through the parking lot and towards my father’s car. I unlock the trunk with the push-button activation system and load the groceries into the car, before slamming it shut and getting back into the vehicle as the rain continues to fall. I make my way home along the slick streets, navigating myself carefully so as not to be crushed by oncoming traffic. Pulling off the main street and out of town, I make my way towards my father’s street and park the car quickly, fetching the groceries from the trunk and heading inside hurriedly._

_I pull my hood down, quickly setting down the bags on the small kitchen table as I set to work putting them away. I am glad that I bought some dishwasher detergent, knowing that once I explain to Dad how to use it, the dish cleaning ritual will become easier. I put the perishables into the fridge and the other things like crackers and other room-temperature snacks into their proper pantries before folding up the bags—I’d splurged a little and got some of those reusable ones—and set them on a low shelf by the kitchen back door. Rolling my shoulders, I realized that it was not prime weather for a sprint or long hike so I decided to relax at home that afternoon._

_I went upstairs to my room, knowing my mother would want me to call her at some point, so I compromised and texted her, telling her that it was raining and that I’d just been on a trip to the grocery store. Due to the small-town-ness of Forks, I could give her a white lie and say that I didn’t have enough cell service to call her. I tried it, and she took the bait, telling me to be safe, as that mysterious note had done. I debate going on my computer to see if we’d gotten some sort of welcome email from any teachers—at my former school, there was usually a pre-reading list to adhere to, at least—but decided against it. I still had a few weeks and knew that, even if I spaced out any prior work to be done before the school year began, I’d have more than enough time._

_Walking over to my window, I saw a car pull up across the street at Charlie and Sue’s house and thought it was a very nice vehicle. Edward and Bella got out from the passenger and driver’s seat respectively, while the back doors opened and a young woman with long, bronze hair and a young man who looked to be a part of a Native American tribe from an old fairy tale trooped out behind them. The front door of the house opened and Charlie and Sue stepped out; Charlie hugged Bella and embraced the young woman—I took this to be Renesmee Cullen, daughter of Edward and Bella—while he shook Edward’s hand and merely looked warily at the second man, who I took to be Jacob Black. As I watched this family greeting, I was shocked when Edward turned around, staring me down from several yards away._

_Thinking I was intruding on this spectacle, I turned away and continued to consider what to make for dinner later that night._

. . .

After a long-awaited visit with my father, I find I don’t want to return home as quickly as I originally thought. I get behind the wheel of my car, gripping the steering wheel so tightly that my knuckles turn even whiter than before. I am pleased when Richard doesn’t merely demand that I drive and when I do, I am tempted to slam the bottom of my foot onto the gas and to plummet down the street like there’s no tomorrow.

It was almost as if there _was_ no tomorrow when it came to my day-to-day life. With my body never needing sleep, I reasoned that I’d be able to complete as many years of school in half the time, if not less. However, such habits might arouse suspicion—I knew I could never enjoy college dorm life (although, I never believed I ever would) for my roommate would be perplexed at my lack of sleep. Sure, you hardly ever slept in college to begin with—if you’d decided to be an academic—but such things would look odd, especially if you’d decided to be serious about the subject.

Rolling my shoulders, I kept going down the main street of Forks, just watching human life passing me by. I’d made a choice when I went out for a walk that afternoon, I saw that now; I mean, had I not gone, perhaps I wouldn’t have been turned at all. I could’ve remained ignorant to this whole new world that I was now a part of. I could have married a dull man when I hit my mid-to-late twenties, had a couple of kids with him, and then he’d grow tired of me and would run off with his secretary. It was always the old story, wasn’t it? Seemingly perfect woman marries workaholic, has his kids, and then he proceeds to bad-mouth her behind her back, thus giving him considerable merit to move on with a considerably younger subordinate...

I find myself on the road to leaving Forks, but I don’t care—all the darkened forests looked the same to me now. I remembered the palm trees dotting the roadside down in California and knew I’d never be happy there from the moment I could remember. I remembered Mom introducing me to Andy for the first time, and the unease I’d felt around him from the beginning of their relationship. I remembered it had begun with the little things—how Andy would want to take me up onto his lap, and Mom snapping pictures of the pair of us; it would be a pose here and there, originally, nothing more. Then I had to wear outfits that Andy especially liked, and it slowly progressed from there...

I keep along the road, ignoring the sign from the highway department of wherever, telling us to return to Forks soon. I find that one thing I missed most of all about my human life was the ability to cry—what I wouldn’t give for tears to fall down my face, so as to show one ounce of emotion to someone, anyone. How many tears had been shed at what Andy had done to me? Thousands, probably, if not millions, always done behind closed doors; I distinctly remembered becoming an expert at breathing through my nose, due to me holding a pillow over my mouth constantly to keep Andy from hearing me sob over the horrors he’d put me through...

Richard said nothing to me as we continued along the dark, twisted road, and I was glad that he said nothing. I loved him, of course—I had proved as much in Aspen—but, as my mate, he knew when I needed him quiet. One thing he also seemed to know—he seemed to be in sync with me about the whole thing—was when my throat was burning with thirst and I desperately needed a hunt. Once I was able to deduce that nobody was around as we drove off a path and into some woods on the other side of the Cullen house, I found that I could not take it any longer.

I threw open the car door and dashed outside into the cool, midsummer air, Richard closely following me, and darted deeper and deeper into the woods. I scampered up at tree and held my nose aloft, smelling the air for something, anything, to quench my thirst. The dark night was a wonderful time to hunt, for the quiet gave us the heightened ability to discover where our prey was hiding. Finally, a twig snap a good four yards away caught my attention—the bobcat’s claws were digging deep into the ground around it—and I moved ever so slightly into a spring positon.

Once I achieved said position, I was off like a light, darting between the twelve feet or so separating us and grabbing the impressive feline around its neck. The creature hissed in protest as I gripped tightly to it, but I couldn’t care less. Efficiently, I let go of it and locked my legs around its neck, swinging precariously before pulling myself up to slice its throat with my fangs. The blood quickly flowed into my mouth—warm and appetizing—and I relished in the thought of having a clean kill. Kicking the carcass away from me, I noticed that Richard himself had drained two deer, and, satisfied, we returned to my car to go back to the house.

Richard and I returned to the Cullen house a full hour after revealing to my father that I was indeed alive. As soon as I walked into the living room, I almost ran to my bedroom, and I heard Richard considerately making excuses for me about the evening. I was pleased to see that Rosalie and Emmett had again put Sarah and the twins to bed, and resolved to book them a weekend trip somewhere romantic to thank them for their impeccable consideration towards me. I opened my bedroom door and shut off the automatic light quickly, having no desire to be bathed in it, and lay upon my bed in the darkness. If there was one thing I didn’t miss about being human, it was the feeling of blankets wrapped around me—it made me feel safe.

Richard entered my room soon thereafter, shutting the door behind him and crossing the room to lie beside me. He raised his arm, allowing me to lie upon his chest; he wrapped said arm around me, placing his cheek against the top of my head. “Carlisle and Esme were very understanding, Beth. You could have told them yourself.”

I turn to hide my face in my chest. “Couldn’t do it...”

“Why?”

I sigh, picking my head up. “This may sound totally insane...”

“What?”

I bit my lip, inwardly cursing myself at continuing to do so. “It really felt like I was cheating on them or something tonight...”

“By going to see your father?”

I nod. “Yeah.”

“That’s ridiculous! He’s your dad...”

“My _human_ dad,” I correct Richard. “Honestly, I can’t understand it—I mean, I barely knew the guy, because my mom was crazy and she hated him. In her attempts to brainwash me, I was hindered from a proper relationship with him...”

“Seems like the lesser of two evils, doesn’t it?”

I blink, looking at Richard full in the face. “What are you talking about?”

“Well, either put up with Andy until you move out, or turn into a vampire... What’s worse for you, Beth? A home where you don’t feel safe, or immortality?”

“A complex question, I’m afraid,” I reply, feeling comfortable in his arms. “I mean, sure, it’s something you consider growing up when you’re playing fantasy, but seriously... I never dreamed it’d be like this...”

“Like what?”

I smile, hoping that he can’t see how goofy I inevitably look. “Having someone that I can’t live without, and won’t have to live without...”

Richard chuckles. “Why? Because we’re young forever?”

I sigh. “Well, that’s one plus side... I just hope you won’t get tired of me...”

Richard reaches out then, turning my head gently towards him. “I could never get tired of you, Beth. I love you.”

I smile, basking in the love of his gaze. “I love you,” I say quietly, tilting my head ever so slightly for him to kiss me.

. . .

The following morning, I practically run to my adoptive parents and allow them to hold me for a long period. Carlisle’s arms were strong around me, while Esme constantly smoothed my hair—back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. I knew that, yet again, had I been human, I would have been sobbing—that was one think I disliked about vampirism, the fact that you could so easily mask your emotions twenty-four/seven. Sure, it’d be convenient at the best of times, but most often, it was just sad.

“You told him, then?” Carlisle asked, after what must’ve been an hour, even though Richard had told them as much the night before.

“Yes,” I whisper.

“How did he take it?” Esme questions.

I shrug. “He was in shock,” I reply, not knowing how else to describe my father’s attitude towards me living. “He...” I pull back from Carlisle and Esme then, turning back towards Richard, standing in the entrance to the living room. “Richard was able to dissuade him from telling the whole town...”

“Dissuade him? Your father?” Carlisle asks, his eyes—which had been locked on my face—turning to look at Richard. “What did you do?”

“I used my mental manipulation,” Richard replies, “it is a part of my amnesia inducement and memory restoration. I was always so persuasive during my human life, and my mother and father, before times got bad, would give me whatever I wanted...”

“Would they?” Carlisle asks, intrigued.

“Yes,” Richard says. “They’d get this expression on their faces—like the one that Chief Partridge had earlier... Their eyes would glaze over and they’d turn into zombies, shadows of their former selves. I could never explain my ability to anyone, and anybody who saw me do it...”

“You’d wipe their memory?” I guessed.

Richard nodded. “Yes. I suppose I didn’t want to get into trouble...”

“What happened?” I whispered.

He forms a tight smile. “That is a tale for another time.”

“Fascinating that you’re able to retain that ability as a vampire,” Carlisle replies. “Alice had hers as a human, as did Benjamin.”

“Benjamin could manipulate the elements as a human?” I ask.

Carlisle nods. “Yes. Amun, his coven leader, discovered him in Egypt centuries ago. When Esme and I gathered witnesses for Renesmee’s plight, we were told that Benjamin wasn’t permitted to leave their compound very much, due to Amun’s fear that the Volturi would hear about Benjamin and...”

“Take him,” I say softly.

Carlisle’s smile is the same amount of tightness as Richard’s. “Yes.”

I sigh, my shoulders slacking. “I still wonder if Aro’s actions were deliberate,” I say. “Perhaps he has managed to get himself a vampire with the ability to foresee me and my gifts, thus enabling him to have me created, or to do so himself...” I shake my head. “Could Aro be that brilliant, Carlisle? Could Aro really have a vampire with that ability?”

Carlisle smiles, all of his wisdom at his visual fingertips for the taking. “Of course; we vampires can have merely basic abilities or the very rare extraordinary ones we’ve heard of, or have yet to hear of. Take Benjamin’s gift for example, or there is Zafrina of the Amazon Coven.”

“What does Zafrina do?” I ask.

“She possesses the gift of visual projection,” Carlisle replies. “She can manipulate your mind into seeing a whole other world around you.”

“Fascinating,” I breathe, considering what that could be like.

Esme steps forward. “Do you think that Aro created you, Beth?” she asks. “Do you truly believe that?”

I shrug. “I don’t know—I’m still new to all of this. Thankfully I have an eternity to figure it all out, providing that I don’t offend them in the process.”

There is a crash from the kitchen then, and I am immediately springing into action, dashing from the living room and into the next room, where Alice is shaking by the massive back wall, made entirely of glass. She turns at the sound of my feet and points below, to where the mailman has left the mail in our box. I run from the kitchen and out the back door, down the path, and towards the mailbox, knowing full well that, had I still been human, I’d be falling into the rocky path below.

Opening the fashionable box, I grab the handful of letters within, wondering what they will possess. Flipping through the ones without my name, I finally get to the one with the words ELIZABETH VIVIEN CULLEN in bold letters, with the Cullen’s address below. The return address is Volterra in Italy, and I know immediately that my blood would have run cold, had it still flown through my veins. Setting the rest of the letters back in the mailbox before me, I rip open the letter addressed to me, hands shaking, and scan the words before me, not knowing what to think of them.

_My dear Miss Cullen,_

_So sorry that we haven’t been formally introduced yet. From what I’ve been hearing from the vampire community, you are quite powerful in your own right. Carlisle, your new father, I’m sure is very proud of your great prowess. I also heard that you’ve slain two people and, while it is not frowned about in our world, you’d do well not to make a habit of it due to your vegetarian lifestyle. Do not fear, however, Miss Cullen, for I am extending a most generous invitation to you and your mate—Richard, is it?—to come and live in Volterra with the Volturi Coven. _

_I hear your Richard is quite powerful as well, and I also hear that you have two other powerful vampires living with you. Alex and Katherine, is it not? The four of you have impeccable skills and would do well to join us in Italy. _

_It is merely a request, Miss Cullen—I will not command you. I learned from quite a few past experiences that to command is to lose. I absolutely despise losing, Miss Cullen, but I shall always respect the opinions of my fellow vampires. Never forget, my dear, these words of wisdom which I shall give to you, as I give to all fledgling vampires that I have the pleasure of corresponding with. _

_Aro Volturi_

_Also, Miss Cullen, remember not to tell your father about our world. I am sure you know what would happen if one word about it were to accidentally slip out. He could meet a similar fate to your own in the woods, and we wouldn’t want that, now would we? I don’t think we would._

I raise my eyes then, and, turning, spot Richard at the top of the path. I am gripping the letter, Aro’s cursive writing becoming wrinkled as a direct result. I feel my brows wrinkling above my eyes; I cannot speak—I would be clueless as to what to say.

“Beth?” Richard asks.

I shake my head. “Aro...” I whisper. “Aro just threatened my father’s life,” I say.

. . .

Richard is able to assist me in getting inside, holding the other pieces of mail in his free hand as we make our way through the kitchen door. Walking through the kitchen, I find that the living room now consists of not just Carlisle and Esme, but Jasper and Alice, and Edward and Bella as well. I hear Rosalie and Emmett upstairs with Sarah and the twins, and I feel immense relief that they’re being kept separated from all this.

Alice is sitting on one of the modern couches, Jasper by her side, a pad of artist’s paper in her lap, and a charcoal pencil gripped in her hand. She has sketched something—a lovely woman—and is staring into space, her eyes never once making eye contact with the page before her. Upon looking closer, I can tell that—due to the smooth features Alice has been able to convey—that the woman Alice has drawn is a vampire.

“Who is she?” I ask Alice, softly.

“Jacinda Georgianna Volturi,” Alice replies. “A blonde, five-feet-seven, twenty-three when she was turned...”

“Where is she from, Alice?” Jasper asked.

“Born in Upstate New York, studying abroad for her Master’s Degree in Volterra when Aro found her... She couldn’t pay her bills on the apartment she had been renting and was starving, desperate. Aro sensed the potential in her, due to her correct assumption that he was a vampire—she was getting a degree in Mythology—and he promptly took her to their home and turned her...”

“What can she do?” I ask Alice.

“She’s a Mind Walker,” Edward says, speaking for the first time.

“A what?” I demand.

“She has the ability to go into people’s minds, without disturbing them, and look at their innermost thoughts and memories,” Jasper replies. “I met some myself when I was being trained by Maria—she told me never to reveal their powers to anyone, and I never did. It was a curious thing, for someone to invade your thoughts without detection...”

“Far more powerful than simple mind reading,” Edward says softly. “She can access the very database that is your memories, including every possibility of past, present, and future—a very invasive practice...”

“Is that all she can do?” I want to know.

“No,” Alice replies. “She also possesses Remote Telepathy...”

“Remote...?” Richard asks.

“I don’t understand, Alice,” Carlisle says.

“Wherever Jacinda is, she can communicate with anyone, anywhere, at any time,” Edward replies, shocked himself. “All in mind, mind you...”

“Please tell me that’s all,” I say, growing overwhelmed.

“No,” Edward says. “One more ability.”

“What is that?” Esme asks.

“Metapathy,” Alice replies.

“Which is?” Richard asks.

“Essentially like Remote Telepathy, but Jacinda can read, sense, communicate with, and control as many minds as she sees fit on a global or universal scale... Dimensions apply, too, if one believes in such things,” Edward replies.

“Jacinda,” I whisper, taking another look at the paper Alice had sketched on. “She was the link...”

“Beth?” Bella asks, concern etched into her face. “What are you talking about?”

“In Aspen, remember?” I ask her, raising my eyes to meet hers. “I said that I thought that it was possible for Aro to have someone with him, with the ability to discern that potential gifted vampires versus the ordinary ones... Jacinda _is_ that vampire—with her as part of the guard, who knows what the Volturi is capable of?”

Richard quickly puts his arms around me, and I lean into him, grateful for the comfort that he so often brings me. “Don’t dwell so much, Beth...”

“Dwell...” I scoff then, pulling away from him. “How can I not dwell, Richard? Aro all but threatened my father’s life, and—to top it all off—he’s got this Jacinda person on his side to predict our every move! No one is safe, Richard, no one!”

Richard pulls me into his arms then; now that I have been a vampire for nearly a year, he is now stronger than I am. “Beth, don’t,” he says softly into my head. “Whatever you’re thinking, don’t you dare...”

“I can’t hear her,” Edward says softly.

“Damned shield too much for you?” Bella asks.

“It seems to be,” Edward replies.

“I can’t just stay here and do nothing,” I whisper, breaking away from Richard. “What if Aro comes after my dad? Or picks all of us off, one by one? I couldn’t...”

“Couldn’t what?” Carlisle asks.

I sigh. “Listen, it was really nice of you and Esme to take me in like this, no questions asked, but enough is enough. You should take everyone and just run—get away from here, as far as you can! It’s me that Aro wants, that’s clear—it’s so obvious now that he created me for this very purpose, to have another powerful vampire on his side...”

Carlisle approaches me then, taking me firmly against my shoulders. “I want you to listen to me, Beth, and listen closely—for all intents and purposes, _you_ are our daughter,” he says, and Esme steps forward at those words. “And as our daughter, you are a member of the Cullen family and entitled to protection of all of us—the Denali’s too.”

“And the packs,” Edward puts in. “I know it may not seem like it, Beth, but you are a younger sister to me, and Renesmee loves all those who I love, so, therefore, you are entitled to their protection as well.”

“Except for Embry, maybe,” I say softly.

Bella looks from me to Edward. “Am I missing something here?”

I sigh. “Embry kissed me,” I reply, looking away, still feeling ashamed.

“I’m sorry. What?” Bella demands.

I nod. “Yeah. Earlier this evening, as a matter of fact—followed me outside and proclaimed his love and everything.”

“I hope you hit him,” Bella says, narrowing her eyes.

I shake my head. “No—just cursed him before running off like the pathetic teenage girl I am,” I tell her.

“You’re not pathetic,” Richard says softly.

“That’s right,” Carlisle says, “so don’t say it, Beth, ever. How Aro managed to know that Jacinda would possess such powerful gifts, I’ll never know...”

“Jacinda won’t be a threat forever,” Alice whispers, her eyes unfocusing again.

My eyes quickly turn to Alice. “What are you talking about?”

Her eyes return to focus again as she raises her eyes to mine. “Jacinda’s going to create an immortal child,” she replies.


	8. It Happened One Night

_I’d decided on lemon chicken and buttered noodles with a simple salad for dinner that evening, and crossed my fingers that my father would enjoy it. He sent me a text message that he’d be home around four-thirty; I remembered his schedule coming home like clockwork: Take off work boots and leave them in the hallway; head upstairs to master bathroom and shower; change into clean clothes; lie in front of the T.V. until called for dinner. I intended to begin the preparation of dinner so, when Dad arrived home, he’d be able to smell it and not suggest that we order a pizza._

_I set to work marinating the chicken in the lemon mixture and begin to hum to myself, and I can clearly see that this will be a system for the next several weeks. I’d have some time with Dad and make him dinner—and perhaps lunch if the occasion called for it—and maybe he and I could even leave the city for a day trip to Port Angeles or Seattle. Big cities were all I knew, really, and the whole small town thing was clearly something I would have to get used to, considering I was going to be here for about a year, unless I decided to move out of state and far away for college._

_I remembered that Mom and I had driven through Seattle to continue along the main highway to get, ultimately, to California. The two of us had stopped for lunch in one of those impressive restaurants Downtown, and I remembered looking through the impressive windows at the skyline, and my mother telling me to hurry up. She was always paranoid then, and she firmly believed that Dad had used his connections with Chief Swan to go after us._

_The forests, I figured, were comforting enough, due to my love of greener things. I quickly recalled how much I’d despised the color pallet down in California, always likening it to something burnt. Here, everything looked so fresh and clean and, even if it got dirty, a generous rainstorm would soon fix it, even though it was in the middle of summer. Rain was not a constant luxury down south as it was here and, despite my love of it, it was still rather shocking to me that buckets and buckets of the stuff could seemingly burst from the overhead clouds at the beginning of August._

_I finished the preparation of the chicken for that night and sealed it with plastic wrap and set it upon a main shelf in my father’s fridge. Washing my hands, I still found I did not want to call my mother, and sent her a quick text at my dinner preparation. I know it must have seemed boring but, due to the rain, I found I wanted to be a homebody that afternoon. I bit my lip and went back upstairs to my bedroom, sitting in the center of my bed and debating what to spend the rest of my afternoon doing. I’d only met Edward and Bella Cullen formally and Charlie and Sue Swan in passing; most teens in California would go down to a coffee bar or something, but I’d only really seen two small diners in town and neither of them screamed ‘hip teen hangout’._

_I’d never describe myself as ‘hip’, but with a population of just over three thousand people, it’s not like we were going to be getting one of those shallow teen clubs anytime soon. Not that I wanted to hang out there; I remembered my mom putting me into a skimpy outfit at fourteen and driving me to one in Central L.A., and telling me that she wouldn’t be back to get me until eleven p.m. With makeup, I may have passed for sixteen, but I still felt like a little girl playing dress-up in her older, rebellious teen sister’s clothes as I attempted to make my way around the black and white checkered floor in my borrowed, six-inch platform heels. I felt like a fraud; not only was I a sheep in wolf’s clothing, but random guys were coming onto me, and I was a little creeped out._

_The more I thought it over, the more I considered that this was only the beginning of a fresh start for me. Yes, nobody of my age group knew me, because I was not permitted to socialize with anyone but my cousins—my father’s brother Ricky’s kids—but they all went to school in the same town where the farm was located. I still hadn’t seen them, although I knew that Dad would want to make a special trip out there. Even though Ricky was the younger brother, he’d married very quickly after graduating high school to a woman named Anna, and they’d had four kids in quick succession; my cousins were called Carson, Finn, Mackenzie, and Amber, and their ages were nineteen to fifteen, with Finn and Kenzie being twins at seventeen._

_I remembered Carson not really being interested in playing with me, and he and Finn would be off somewhere playing in a puddle of mud while Kenzie and I would have some form or other of intellectual conversation. It mostly involved the two of us non-verbally reacting to all the shenanigans that the boys found themselves getting into, and our mother’s praising us on staying clean. Mom and Anna got along famously, why I’ll never know, but I think Anna was a rock for Mom; it was a woman her age with kids, and they were family, and despite the nearly one-hundred-mile drive, they tried to see one another every weekend, taking turns driving out._

_I lay back on my back then upon my bed, my head just hitting the pillow, as I stared up at the ceiling. It was a textured ceiling, resembling popcorn, and I recalled one of my earliest memories was of me crying and demanding why I could not eat my ceiling if it looked so delicious. It was confusing, I’d said, and deliberately cruel towards children to manufacture a ceiling in such a way, for it would cause confusion about what was all right to eat versus what wasn’t. My father praised my way of thinking—although I suspect it was merely because he found it amusing or he himself had wondered the same thing at some point or another—while my mother merely absorbed up my opinions like an unwilling plant. She had already begun her medication for her psychosis at that point, but it didn’t seem to be doing her any good. If anything, her temper was shorter than it had been, and I feared the times that Dad would go off to work and leave me all alone with her..._

. . .

I was shocked at Alice’s sudden declaration—surely Jacinda wouldn’t be so stupid to create something so against vampire law! Perhaps she believed that, due to her closeness to Aro, she would be able to either conceal or to seek his protection from her future major misconduct. It seemed that, regardless of Jacinda’s forthcoming infraction, Bella and I would have to work doubly hard with our shields so as any activities to protect me and my father were not discovered or thwarted.

The following morning, I spent some time with Sarah; plans to put her in the autumn preschool had been stopped, for she and I would be moving to London promptly. Richard and I ourselves would be leaving in just a few more weeks—three and a half to be exact—and we still had much to do. We had to find warmer clothes, for one thing; shop for our books, enroll Sarah in a preschool there, and get a proper nanny for the boys and for Sarah as well.

The adoption, it had been decided, would have to be finalized beforehand. I explained to Sarah that she would be taking my surname, Cullen, and that she would be free to call me her mother if she wished. Sarah, enchanted with the whole arrangement, took to calling me ‘Mama’ straightaway, and I couldn’t have been more delighted. I left it to Alice to do the shopping for Richard, Sarah, the boys, and I and, after she got our measurements, she went to Seattle for the day with Rosalie to sort everything out. While Rosalie wasn’t as into clothes as Alice was, she knew my style far better than our sister and, therefore, would look out for me when it came to the world of fashion.

I’d just put Sarah to bed exactly one week prior to the adoption, when Richard came into my bedroom. It was more our bedroom now, as he never used his room other than a reading room or study room. Other than his few months at Forks High School with me, Alex, and Katherine, he hadn’t had much schooling since graduating from college for the third time back in the early 1990’s. Richard climbed onto the bed where I was sitting cross-legged with my new Tablet, going over various checklists for the upcoming move to London. I had secured a meeting with Rosewood Primary Academy, a local elementary school—which included a preschool—and was one of the top-rated institutions in the area, all for Sarah, in the hopes that she could manage to get in. Carlisle was familiar with the headmistress, one Mrs. Helena Matthews, and I crossed my fingers that the connection would somehow work out in our favor.

“Are you all right?” I asked him, leaning forward and brushing my lips with his. “You’ve been very quiet these last few weeks...”

He shakes his head. “Just concerned about Jacinda and all that...”

“I see,” I reply, dipping my head back downwards to inspect the check-list once again. “I can’t think why Aro would feel the need to come after us. Sure, we drink animal blood and not human blood, but that’s not a crime.”

“True,” Richard allows, “but still...”

I raise my eyes back to his. “Still...what? We’ve got an eternity, Richard,” I say with an easy smile his way. “Come on—I don’t want our relationship centered around lies.”

“When was the last time you hunted?” he asked.

I shrug. “Bella and I went out maybe three or four days ago, when Emmett insisted on that guys’ trip to Denali... Why?”

“No reason—want to hunt now?”

I shrug, setting my Tablet aside and hopping off my bed. I put my jeans back on and put on a sweater, knowing that if by chance we run into some humans, we at least had to look the part somehow. It was still late summer, but there was now a nip to the air that hadn’t been there since spring had begun. I pulled on my running shoes and hopped out my floor to ceiling window after Richard, taking off into the woods. I loved his company, and my heart soared whenever he looked at me with kindness and love in his eyes, and I felt like I wanted nothing more than for us to be together forever...

We reached a clearing in the center of the woods and stood, poised, in the semi-darkness, waiting for that inevitable twig snap. Sure enough, an elk had picked the wrong time to journey out for a midnight stroll, and Richard and I made quick work at tackling the mighty beast together. When we’d finished, Richard suggested a walk up the mountain, and I agreed, knowing that we’d be able to catch the tail end of the sunset. It was around eight thirty when we reached a good cliff, and the sun was just preparing to vanish over the faraway horizon. As it hit the pair of us, I snuck a glance at Richard; seeing him sparkling just as much as I did, I felt myself filling with some sort of pride then—this man was mine, and nothing would ever change that fact.

“Beth, I brought you out here under false pretenses,” Richard says, softly.

At once, fear threatens to bubble beneath the surface. “Oh,” I reply, lowering my eyes. “I...I get it, really...”

“You do?”

“Yeah, I mean...” I shake my head. “Come on. I could understand you wanting to go to London with just me, but with three kids in tow, and two of them babies...”

Richard closes the distance between us then, taking my hand in his. “This doesn’t have anything to do with that, Beth. I promise.”

I sigh. “Okay. Just checking...”

“It has to do with the kids, sure, but that’s not...” He shakes his head. “Emmett wanting to go to Denali was just a cover story.”

I raise an eyebrow. “I’m listening.”

“We went to Fifth Avenue in New York, to Tiffany’s...”

“Tiffany’s? Why? Did Alice or Rosalie or Esme want something?”

“Not Bella?”

I laugh at that. “Of course not Bella!” I say, laughing heartily. “She’d compliment the cut of the jewels or say something about their history, but it’s not her style...”

Richard laughs. “You’re right, you’re right... But no, nothing for Alice or Rosalie or Esme, although Jasper, Emmett, and Carlisle did end up buying them something... And Alex got Katherine something, too, but that’s beside the point...”

“Richard?” I asked, knowing full well that I’d be flush and my heart would’ve been racing had I still been human.

He smiles, going down to one knee. “I won’t ask you to take my name—that’s not my style, not anymore. I’d take the Cullen name; and I’ve asked Carlisle, the man whose name you have, for his blessing, and he’s given it. And as for the kids, I want to be their father; I love them all, and Sarah and I have discussed it...”

“You spoke to Sarah?”

“Yes, about being her father, and she’s so excited... We spoke about it, and she claimed that it was up to you...”

“Up to me?” I ask, and gasp aloud when he removes the traditional black velvet box from his pocket. “Richard...”

He chuckles. “This was the cliff where you promised to me mine, and I swore to be yours,” he tells me. “I’m looking forward to our move to London—more than anything—but I am a traditional Southern boy at heart. I was born in Charlotte but Dad’s export business was based in New York, so we moved. I took to telling everyone I was from there; we moved when I was six, so I was able to drop the accent, but not the charm. When things got bad, Mom suggested I move in with her sister, Anastasia, until things got easier. She later got pregnant...”

“Brother or sister?” I ask, softly.

“A sister—they called her Ruthie,” he replies. “Mom and Ruthie didn’t last long, and they died just before I turned fourteen. Dad stopped writing directly after that; just sent my aunt a few letters here and there over the next few months...”

“And then you got sick?” I ask.

He nods. “Yes. I finished high school and things began looking up. I got into Duke University when I was sixteen and decided to take the opportunity it afforded me. I began studying law and began to pave a future for myself. I’d just turned nineteen when I got sick and Aunt Anastasia announced to our family that Katherine would be marrying Nathaniel Thompson, a widower who was in his thirties, and a terrible, terrible man. I was soon diagnosed as contagious and I had to go into the hospital...”

“And you couldn’t protect Katherine?”

“Not anymore,” he says, regretfully. “As soon as I was turned, I spent the next few months in the surrounding woods, curbing my blood lust and waiting for the proper time to snatch Katherine. I found her soon thereafter and told her that I could save her, or never see her again. She chose to be saved...”

“And here you are,” I reply.

He nods. “Here I am.” He runs a hand through his hair. “I’m a traditionalist at heart, Beth. I was taught that certain things were not done before a certain time...”

“And?” I ask.

“I was brought up with the notion that marriage is what you must do in order to live with someone properly,” he says slowly. “While I want more than anything to be with you in London when we attend Oxford,” he says, “I want to be married to you first,” he continues, kneeling and opens the black velvet ring box flawlessly with one finger.

I feel my eyes widen at the ring—it was a heart-shaped diamond, wrapped in the center of a bed of smaller, circular diamonds. The cut was perfect, the diamond flawless, and it was all perfectly placed upon a platinum band. I knew that, had I been human, my knees would have weakened—how on earth had someone guessed my dream ring...? “Damn Edward,” I say, softly, my voice choking with emotion around the laugh.

Richard laughs. “Yes, damn Edward,” he says. “Elizabeth Vivien Cullen, I love you more than words can say. From the moment I met you, I knew you were different than any other girl I’d met. I never knew if I even wanted marriage before I met you, but my thoughts on the matter have changed. Will you marry me, and be my lifelong companion?” he asks me, his eyes alight with hope. “Will you become my wife?”

I find myself wanting desperately to cry, but, of course, I cannot. “Yes, Richard Walter Kingsley, I will marry you,” I reply.

Richard slips the ring onto my finger and springs to his feet, grabbing me around my waist and spinning me around. He lets out a shout of joy and I do the same, our shouts quickly intermingling in a moment of pure happiness. While we had as much love as any couple should, we had one thing that many of them did not: Time. Richard and I would live for years and years, something many couples wished to have but didn’t. As I envisioned our years of wedded bliss, I felt perfectly wonderful.

I then dart from his arms. “Race you back!” I cry out, and charge down the mountain. I find I let out a little shout as Richard immediately tears after me, the massive boulders crumbling around us we just manage to dodge. I love the feeling of being (technically) seventeen forever and having my nineteen-year-old fiancé running after me down this mountain side as we head into the woods. It grows dark around us, but it does not turn us off from our terrain as we jump over more rocks on the forest floor, getting closer and closer to the Cullen house—_our _house.

“Only Edward knows, as well as Alice,” Richard whispers as we near the clearing between the edge of the woods and the house itself. “And I did as Carlisle for his consent...”

I whip around then, my eyes widening. “You asked Carlisle?”

He nods. “Yes. I felt that, since he is one of us, it would be far simpler to ask him such a thing than your own father,” he says. “Perhaps your father would have given his consent—I don’t know. What I do know is Carlisle; he created me, thus giving me the ability to be in your life. He saved you, thus giving you the ability to be in mine.” He takes my hand. “Because of that, I shall be forever grateful to him.”

I lean into him then, feeling comfort in his arms as the last rays of the sun vanished, which shrouded us completely in darkness. “Well, I’m sure they’re pressing their faces against the glass wall,” I say softly, ruefully. “They’re bound to suspect that something is going on between us...”

Richard chuckles, his hot breath delicious on my neck. “I’ll bet you’re right.”

“Come on.” I pull back from him, and feel delightful as he wraps his hand around mine. We approach the house, opening the back door, and head through the kitchen and into the living room. As we enter, I see Carlisle and Esme engrossed in a game of chess; Emmett and Jasper are nose-deep in a football game; Rosalie is looking through some magazine; and Alice is arranging a vase of flowers on Esme’s dining room table. “Where are Edward and Bella?” I ask, knowing that they should be there too.

The front door opens from downstairs then and, instantly, Edward and Bella have joined us, a knowing smile on each of their lips.

Richard has his arm around my waist, and I find myself perfectly at ease as we stand there, in the center of the living room, around our family. Looking up, I find myself grinning as Alex and Katherine come downstairs and look expectantly at the two of us. I turn and look at Richard, my love, my fiancé, my everything, and find myself swelling with pride as he turns to smile at me.

“So, everyone, Richard and I have some news,” I say, turning back to everyone and looking them over in turn. “Carlisle, Edward, and Alice know about it already, but the rest of you should know about it, too.”

Richard gently takes ahold of my left wrist and holds it aloft, my diamond glinting in the fashionable lights of the living room, specially picked out by Esme. “I’ve asked Beth to be my wife and she’s accepted,” he says proudly.

“We’re getting married!” I cry out.

It is exactly a fraction of a second before Alice, Rosalie and Esme squeal with delight; that is quickly followed by Bella and Carlisle applauding; Jasper’s nod of approval comes next, and Emmett throws his fists into the air and whoops. Richard and I are immediately pulled away from one another and thrown into a giant mess of hugs. I can see in Alice’s eyes that she fully thinks that she will be planning the wedding, and I bite my lip, searching the crowd for Edward, and quickly convey to him that I want to plan my wedding on my own. I feel immense relief when he gives me a quick nod—so quick that even the rest of the family will have missed it—that he will speak to her.

“Who’s going to be your Maid of Honor?” Alice asks then, eagerly, and immediately puts herself forward.

I give an uncomfortable grin; however much I loved Alice, I knew full well that I wanted Bella to be my Maid of Honor—or, in this case, Matron of Honor—but I just shook my head at her. “Haven’t decided yet,” I reply, and Edward scoffs, lowering his eyes, and making a supreme effort not to laugh as he shakes his head; I could also swear that he mouthed “good save” under his breath.

Alice looked a little disappointed, but clearly understood that Richard and I weren’t taking questions at this point and backed off considerably, allowing the rest of the family to step in and embrace us. After the excitement died down, everyone wanted to know where Richard had asked me and what my thoughts were on the ring. Next, they wanted to know what he’d said, and we gave them the edited version—I was sure that Edward would sift through my mind at some point to discover the full truth himself. After all that rather private information was exchanged, Edward and Bella returned to the cottage while Alex and Katherine, Rosalie and Emmett, and Alice and Jasper went upstairs. Esme went up soon thereafter and Richard went as well, leaving me alone in the living room with Carlisle, his medical textbook marked with his index finger.

“Richard told me that he asked for your blessing,” I say softly.

Carlisle smiles. “That’s right. He’s traditional—I like that.”

I nod. “I’m sure you said ‘yes’ to him. He really respects you; I don’t think he would go against you like that.”

He chuckles. “Yes, I did tell him he could ask. I also explained to him that it was ultimately up to you; he shouldn’t expect anything, you know.”

“Of course, you’re right,” I reply. “Listen, I know my dad knows that I’m alive and everything but I don’t feel comfortable having him involved in my life,” I say quietly. “I mean...with everything so different now...” I bite my lip. “Would it be selfish of me to get Richard to wipe his memory?”

Carlisle looks philosophical. “Is that something you would want?”

I sigh. “Don’t get me wrong—I love my dad—but there comes a time when it’s time to let it all go. I mean, fifty years from now, everyone of that generation will have died. Fifty years for us’ll be over so quickly—it almost doesn’t seem fair to anyone involved.”

He nods. “I see your point.” He shuffles from foot to foot. “Is that really what you want? I understand the hurt it could cause when he passes away but wouldn’t fifty years be better than nothing at all?”

I am relieved at this moment to be a vampire, for now I don’t have to hold back the inevitable tears which would fall. “I had to raise myself since I was a kid,” I reply. “I don’t even know if my father was a good parent or not. I don’t even know if he really loved me. I mean, maybe he was just devastated at the thought of my death because maybe he thought he owed me something...”

“Did he know?” Carlisle asks. “Did he know what Andy and your mother did to you when you were a child?”

I shake my head. “Not that aspect of it, no,” I reply. “Just that they both knocked me around now and then.”

“Could he have suspected?”

I shrug. “Not very bright,” I say quietly.

“Not like you?”

I chuckle. “Nobody in the Reece or Partridge family was ever anything like me,” I reply. “I mean, none of them could live forever and kill people without consequences.”

Carlisle remains impassive, studying me. “Are you happy?”

I smile. “I’ve been given a tremendous gift by our enemy,” I reply. “If Aro has his way, I—as his creation—will be forced to join the Volturi. Alice hasn’t said anything of any new developments or anything like that but she’s assured me that me, Richard, Sarah, and the twins will be safe in London. Who knows? Maybe once we have our degrees and come back things will be all right...”

“Do you think so?”

I shrug. “Hey, maybe Richard and I will be nomads or something,” I reply. “Can’t expect you to look after us forever, can I?”

Carlisle crosses to me and pulls me into his arms, but not completely, so as he can stare into my eyes. “I’m going to say this one more time, Beth, just one more. You are my daughter, and in however long to your wedding, Richard will be my son. Even when you take his name when you say your vows...”

“No.” I shake my head. “Richard and I have discussed it. He’s going to take our name and become a Cullen.”

Carlisle smiles, clearly touched. “Is he?”

I nod. “He is. He wants to adopt Sarah and the boys alongside me, and then they’ll be Cullen’s, too.”

Carlisle pulls me into his arms. “After you get your degrees—your medical degree and Richard’s degree in law—you’re more than welcome to keep living with us. Who knows, Beth? Maybe Richard can join Jasper in counterfeiting with his knowledge of the various laws here as well as in England...”

For the first time, I allow myself to feel secure at the thought of my immortality—I had almost anything and perpetually seventeen-year-old girl could want: A supportive family; a drop-dead gorgeous, respectful, loyal, intelligent fiancé; magical abilities... The list went on. I was also pleased at the fact that I could have it all; a full scholarship to my dream overseas university, a house overseas, and said fiancé moving there with me... Plus, I would soon have three adopted children... What more could I possibly want?

I raise my eyes to Carlisle then, wishing in that moment that I could cry. “You’ve given me everything,” I tell him. “Aro may have created me, but _you_ have truly saved me. However much I loved my father, he couldn’t have kept me away from my mother forever. She and Andy were so emotionally manipulative that I would’ve fallen back into their trap sooner or later.” I shrug. “You’re my dad, and Esme is my mom, and I will be forever grateful to the both of you for shielding me from everything that needed to be.”

“Esme and I couldn’t be more proud to call you our daughter,” Carlisle assures me. “If you and Richard ever have need of us, you know where to find us.”

I nod. “That’s the thing...”

“What is?”

“Part of Richard’s proposal was his explanation of how traditional he really is,” I tell him. “I understand that the house in England is seven bedrooms but...”

“But?”

“Well, I’m sure it’ll be enough,” I reply. “One for Richard and me, one for Sarah, a nursery for the twins—and then their own bedrooms, depending on how long our degrees take; then a place for the nanny to sleep...” I shrug. “Richard told me that he and I have to be married and Sarah and the boys have to be adopted before the move...”

There is a slam from upstairs then and quick feet upon the stairs, followed by Alice all but stampeding into the living room. “Did I hear you right?” she wants to know. “Do we have exactly four to six weeks to arrange all this?”

I look to Carlisle. “What...?”

“The house is all ready for you, and you and Richard are all registered online,” Carlisle tells me patiently. “Plus, the tickets you booked are open-ended. Alice has easily managed to finish shopping for all of you, and you and Richard have rushed your book orders to be taken directly to the house. Despite not living there, I took the liberty of employing a full-time housekeeper slash cook to keep the place running smoothly, so your books will be safely inside when the time comes.”

“I also told the housekeeper slash cook of all of your styles, so all the bedrooms will be prepared per those rules,” Alice puts in, putting herself forward again. “Do you honestly think you could plan a wedding in four to six weeks?”

I sigh. “Alice, I love you, but I’ve been doing full-time adult things since as far back as I can remember. Just like you and Jasper, I fully intend on marrying Richard only once. I’d like to plan it myself. I hope you can respect that.”

Alice sighs. “All right...”

I reach out and brush her shoulder with my fingertips. “Hey, it’s okay,” I tell her. “If I run into snags of any kind, you’re first on my list to call.”

Alice brightens at that. “Thank you,” she replies before turning on her heel, as graceful as a dancer, and returning upstairs.

I turn back to Carlisle then. “Listen, I was wondering if you would like to walk me down the aisle the day of?” I ask him, flashing him a smile. “Since I won’t be having my dad there, I figure...”

Carlisle reaches out and embraces me again. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be,” he assures me happily. “Now, I think you have some other questions to ask other members of our family...”

“What?” I ask, pulling back.

He smiles. “You have to ask the whole Maid of Honor question... I know how some of these wedding regulations work...”

I shake my head. “Really wish we all didn’t have such good hearing.” Instead of verbalizing it, I motion to Carlisle that I’ll be asking Bella, to which he nods.

“Better that way, I think,” he tells me. “Go with your gut.”

I nod to him and slip out of the house, making my way down the footpath and back into the woods. I skip over the stream, not going very quickly now, and make my way through the last of trees before happening upon the cottage. I cross my fingers that Edward will hear my thoughts as I close in, and I reach out to knock, only to find that the door opens for me, and I slip inside the living room, rather like a casual hunting lodge. I hesitate for a moment in the living room; I dart over to the bookshelves, enjoying the crackling of the fire, looking at Bella’s impressive collection of Shakespeare plays.

“Beth?”

Turning, I see Bella standing in the doorway, her jeans still on, but she is no longer wearing a sweater, merely a simple T-shirt, and she has absconded with her shoes. “You’re missing _The Merchant of Venice_,” I tell her, pointing to her bookshelf.

She nods. “Yeah, I haven’t replaced it yet,” she says. “You’d think, being immortal, that I’d have done something that tiny a long time ago, but...” She shrugs.

“Guess that’s something I’ll have to get used to,” I tell her.

Bella smiles. “Clearly,” she replies. “What’s going on? I would’ve thought that, after the engagement, you and Richard would be celebrating...”

I shake my head. “Soon,” I reply. “Just doing some quick planning.”

“Yeah? Like what?”

“Well, I asked Carlisle to walk me down the aisle,” I say.

Bella smiles. “I’m sure he loved that.”

“He did. He was really happy.”

“Is Richard with you?” Bella asked. “Edward told me he read his mind and he claimed he was on the short list for Best Man...” Her mind seems to click then and she smiles. “Did you come here to ask me to be a Bridesmaid? I’ll totally do it...”

“Why would you think you’d be a Bridesmaid?” I ask, not unkindly.

“Well, because we _are_ sisters, by marriage, at least,” she says with a lighthearted chuckle my way. “I mean, I know I’m probably the one you’re closest to—you met me first; Edward and I took you for your first hunt...”

“And if I hadn’t seen you two, I probably wouldn’t be here...”

Bella smiles sympathetically. “Still sorry.”

I shake my head. “I’m not. I was taken out of a really bad situation—I wouldn’t go back for anything at all.”

She nods. “Well, it’s good that you’re taking it so well—we all know that Rosalie wasn’t as receptive to it.”

“She’ll be a Bridesmaid,” I tell her, “and Katherine.”

“And Alice’ll be your Maid of Honor?” Bella guesses.

I shake my head. “No, actually... The reason why I came here is because I wanted to ask you if you would be willing to be my Maid of Honor...if you want.”

Bella smiles. “Yes, of course. I mean, if you want me to.”

I nod. “Of course, Bella. You’re my sister.”

She crosses the room and hugs me, clearly pleased with the situation. “I’m touched, really, Beth; you always know just what to say and how to say it.”

“So, that’s a ‘yes’?” I ask her.

Bella pulls back from me and smiles. “Of course, Beth. Of course it’s a yes! It means a lot to me that you asked me of all people.”

I sigh. “I just hope that Alice is okay with just being a Bridesmaid. I love her, and I don’t want to hurt her feelings, but...”

“But it’s your wedding,” Bella assures me. “You can’t make _everyone_ happy on that day. I know everyone says you’re supposed to cry at weddings, but at this point, maybe there won’t be any legitimate crying...”

I shrug. “I know I’ll be inviting Theo, and he’ll probably invite Chadwick, but other than them, I can’t see me inviting many humans...”

“Invite who you like,” Bella tells me. “Your choice.”

I nod. “Thanks,” I tell her. Turning, I see that Richard is just stepping out from the back hallway, Edward just behind him, and I raise my eyebrows. “Hello you.”

“This one just asked me to be his Best Man,” Edward says, putting an arm casually around my fiancé’s shoulders.

I smile at that. “Did he?”

Edward chuckles, and he and Richard proceed to wrestle for a good five seconds or so before breaking apart. “Of course, I told him I’d do the job. This means that it’s _my_ turn to plan a bachelor party...”

“Your turn?” I ask.

“I second that question,” Bella says.

“Whenever Emmett allows Rosalie to go through with another wedding, Emmett... Well, he always asks Jasper to plan everything...”

I raise my eyebrows. “But Emmett met you first...”

Edward shrugs. “Doesn’t matter. It’s up to him, as a groom, to pick, and Richard, my friend, you have picked well.” He claps a hand onto his shoulder. “I hear you’re taking our name on the big day.”

“You heard right,” Richard replies.

“You’ll live up to it,” Edward tells him with a smile as he gives him a good-natured shove and darts out the door, Richard at his heels.

“So, I have a thought,” Bella says.

I turn to her. “Yeah?”

“Well, as your Maid of Honor, I’m permitted to give advice, and since we’re short on time, I thought I’d give you an idea about a honeymoon...”

“You know, when I was human, I said I wanted to honeymoon in the United Kingdom whenever we played the ‘what if wedding game’, but we’ll be living there for crying out loud. Change of scenery? Please,” I say, nodding for Bella to continue.

“Edward took me to this private island that Carlisle bought for Esme,” Bella says. “It’s called Isle Esme—that’s where I found out that I was pregnant with Renesmee. Other than the illness I felt at the end, the vast majority of it was wonderful...”

“Vast majority?” I ask. “Did something else happen besides your pregnancy that you didn’t intend on happening?” I want to know. I valued Bella’s opinion, of course, but if something bad happened while she was there, I felt I had a right to know. Besides, I figured if she was still human during the honeymoon, then perhaps something could be said about the reported activities Edward planned for them...

“Well, let’s just say that Edward had some regrets at what transpired the day after the wedding night,” Bella replies.

I shake my head. “He wasn’t satisfied, or...?”

Bella laughs. “No, far from it—it was wonderful, but vampires are so much stronger than humans that he...”

“That he...?”

She sighs. “Well, let’s just say that I looked more like a domestic violence victim than a happy wife,” Bella replies, sighing again and shaking her head. “Edward felt so guilty that he swore that he and I wouldn’t make love until after I was changed. I managed to get him to break that ‘promise’ soon thereafter...”

I nod. “Fortunately, Richard and I aren’t human,” I reply. “Although Richard has only agreed to share a bed with me—very little physical contact, strictly PG-13—until our wedding night. He claims that that one time in Aspen was a fluke and can’t possibly happen again.” I sigh. “Well, I’ll speak to Richard about talking to Carlisle about Isle Esme...”

“You know, maybe you should surprise him with it,” Bella suggests. “Let the bride plan the honeymoon for a change...”

“I’m already planning the wedding...”

“I can help you,” Bella replies. “Look, we have similar styles and I actually take ‘no’ for an answer. Besides, I know what you like almost as much as you do.”

I nod—she was right. “Okay. I’ll go over the wedding party things myself and then you and I can figure out a game plan.”

“Sounds good,” Bella replies.

“Should I come here tomorrow?” I ask.

Bella nods. “Probably—I feel bad at excluding Alice, but she’ll just take over and not give you what you really want.”

I smile. “Well, maybe once we have a theme down, we can give her parameters and _maybe_ she can choose her own dress.”

Bella laughs. “Maybe,” she says.

With another hug, I slip out of the cottage and back into the night. I pass Edward on my walk back to the big house, and he manages to convey to me Alice’s thoughts: That she’s picked up that I really do want to be planning my own wedding, and that she could tell I wanted to ask Bella to be my Maid of Honor, and she’s fine with it. I give him a swift hug and thank him before journeying inside and upstairs to my room. As I place my hand on the doorknob, I find that I am happier now than I have ever been, and know that I am making the proper choice when it comes to my destiny. Turning the knob, I step into my bedroom, one of the first steps to the rest of my life.


	9. The Deity

_The sound of the doorbell ringing startled me, pulling me immediately from my half-asleep state and caused me to uproot myself from my fetal position. I made a dash from my bedroom and down the stairs, heading straight to the front door. Peering through the spy hole, I saw a young man with russet skin, closely cropped dark hair, and a lean and attractive build. Immediately curious, I unlatched the door and pulled it open, darting back from its impressive frame, and raised my eyebrows to the visitor._

_“Hi,” I say, and the guy’s eyes immediately pop and he looks as if he’s suddenly found something he’s lost. “Can I help you?”_

_“Sorry, I was looking for Chief Partridge,” the guy says, stumbling over his speech. “I must have the wrong house...”_

_I chuckle at his insecurity; not in jest, but it was so refreshing to finally talk to someone who didn’t have it all figured out. “No, it’s cool, you don’t have the wrong house. He’s just out fighting fires right now. Did you need something?”_

_The guy shakes his head again; he is a foot taller than me, and his muscles are indeed impressive to look at, if you’re into that sort of thing. “No. Chief Swan and Sue are just having a get-together across the street. Charlie said that we should go and see if Chief Partridge was available to come by...”_

_I shake my head. “Dad’s at work—sorry. I know he and Charlie are close.”_

_The guy’s perfectly arched brows shoot upwards. “Wait—you’re Chief Partridge’s daughter?” he demands._

_I nod, throwing up a hand. “Guilty,” I reply._

_“I’m Chief Swan’s grandson-in-law’s best friend, if that makes any sense,” he says, a light chuckle escaping his perfect lips as he puts out a hand. “Embry Call. So, that must make you Elizabeth, right?”_

_I smile and reach out to return his handshake, ever-loving this simple formality with this mystery door knocker. “Beth,” I tell him quickly. “Never liked all the formality attached to that name, you know?”_

_Embry laughs. “I hear you. Listen, the invitation was extended to you, too. Chief Swan said that your dad was invited, but Sue said not to take ‘no’ for an answer. Edward said that you were here all alone and Sue hates not including people...”_

_I smile at that. “That’s sweet, really.” I turn back and look at the empty house, and think it is a marvel that I’ve managed to keep my sneakers on for so long. “All right, I’ll go.” I make sure my cell phone is still in my pocket and I make a grab for a sweater from a peg on the wall just inside the door before pulling it shut and locking it with my old, brass key. After Embry’s assurance that I don’t need to bring anything with me to the Swan house, I allow him to escort me across the street and up the set of stairs, shorter than ours, and Embry walks right in like he owns the place._

_“Sue! Charlie!” he calls. “Chief Partridge wasn’t at home but I managed to find someone with that last name!” he says, putting an arm casually over my shoulders and leading me into the kitchen, were Sue is preparing something that smells delicious._

_“Oh, Beth, at last!” Sue says warmly, quickly washing and drying her hands. She had been cutting onions, but their juices don’t seem to affect her, as no tears leave her eyes. She walks across the room to me and embraces me, and she feels so soft and warm that I find I am not averse to this sudden physical contact._

_“Nice to finally meet you, Sue,” I say, feeling confident that ‘Mrs. Swan’ would be far too formal for this occasion._

_Sue pulls back and stares at me and flashes me a smile. “Spitting image of your father, no doubt about it,” she assures me, patting my cheek. “Soda, water, and fruit juices are in the fridge—show her, will you, Embry?—and everyone’s gathered in the living room. Make yourself at home, Beth.”_

_Embry saunters over to the fridge, pulling out an individual bottle of orange juice for himself and gestures to the various shelves. “Want anything?”_

_I duck under his arm, flashing him a smile as I take a bottle of apple juice out of the fridge with a small giggle. “Gotta be quicker than that,” I tell him, and Embry has the decency to look flushed at our close physical contact. I find my heart skip a beat as I stand near him as I shut the fridge and walk into the living room, cursing myself for flushing, too as I make my way over to a couch._

_“Hey, Beth,” Bella says with a smile._

_“Good to see you,” Edward puts in. “You just missed Jacob and Renesmee, although if I couldn’t sense what he was thinking, he’d have left a long time ago.”_

_Bella swatted his knee. “Not here,” she hisses at him. She raises her eyes to Embry, who is standing behind the couch, directly behind me. “You okay, Embry?” she asks him, looking genuinely concerned._

_Edward raises his eyes to Embry, and something seems to register within him, because he laughs and lowers his eyes. “He’s fine,” he assures Bella._

_I look from Embry to Edward and back again, wondering what is transpiring beneath the surface, and wonder if I’ll ever be privy to it. I settle into the couch then, and find that it is remarkably comfortable for such an old model; Sue must’ve had the cushions replaced recently, I reason with myself, unscrewing the cap of my apple juice and sipping it slowly, looking around the living room. There is a definite sense of outdoorsman around the place, for Charlie seems to have a fisherman theme going on, something that he and my father had done many a weekend before when they both had work off. “Your dad catch anything lately?” I ask Bella._

_“Caught some salmon on the Columbia River a few weeks ago, as a matter of fact,” Charlie says, stepping into the living room then, beer can in hand. “Sue and I get this annual Christmas present from Bells and Edward where we go salmon fishing in the summer. We always look forward to the gift,” he goes on, looking affectionately at Bella as a few more boys step into the living room behind him, all with similar coloring to Embry, and raise their eyebrows at my sudden appearance. I do my best to smile and greet them all in turn; I don’t want anyone thinking I’m an impolite guest._

_I’m introduced to them one by one by Embry, and I absorb their names rather quickly: Quil, Jared, Paul, and Sam. Sam, although he seems to have kind eyes beneath the surface, is the tallest and most muscular of the bunch, and I catch the glint of a gold band upon the third finger of his right hand. A young woman comes in from the back—I’d heard her speaking to Sue in the kitchen—and Sam immediately puts his arm around her, almost as if he sensed her coming. I’m told her name is Emily Young, and that she is Sam’s wife of several years; half of her face is perfect, while the other half looks as if she’d been mauled by a wild animal. I don’t make a show of not staring, for I want everything to appear normal. Emily is visibly pregnant, and I am quick to congratulate her._

_She beams. “Thank you!” she says, moving away from Sam’s side and coming to sit down next to me on the couch. “It’s our third.”_

_“Well, you look amazing,” I compliment her._

_Emily looks touched. “You’re sweet,” she replies. “We’ve got two boys now—named Joshua for Sam’s father, and then there’s Caleb, after Sam’s grandfather. We’re finally expecting our first girl by next year,” Emily glows, “and we’re thinking of calling her Charlotte after Sue’s mother.”_

_“Charlotte’s a beautiful name,” I reply._

_“So, I know that your father is a firefighter,” Emily says, clearly interested in continuing our conversation, “and I know he and your mother never got married.”_

_“Emily,” Sam says, softly, a warning._

_Immediately, I turn to look at Sam. “It’s fine, really,” I assure him with a quick smile before turning back to Emily. “No, they didn’t get married, but it doesn’t matter. My mother has a new boyfriend—he’s a B-movie actor—and she went to go and see him filming his latest monster movie project in Europe.”_

_“That’s exciting!” Emily says._

_I shrug. “I guess if you’re into that sort of thing,” I reply with a small laugh. “I’d rather just get on with a sense of normalcy, you know?”_

_Emily nods like she understands, and we continue making small talk for about another fifteen minutes before Sam claims that they are running late to pick up their children from a playdate in La Push. Emily sighs, regretful that we can’t talk anymore, and quickly embraces me, and, while thrown, I return her hug. I wave goodbye to her and Sam as they head out and, quite soon, Quil, Jared, and Paul leave as well._

_Edward and Bella head into the kitchen, with Bella helping Sue clean up from the party and Charlie and Edward shooting the breeze outside. Embry comes around the couch and sits beside me, having gotten me another juice, and we two make small talk for a little while. He asks me where I was born and I’m honest with him, and he says he was born in La Push, and we continue chatting._

_“You’re lucky to have a dad,” he says after a while._

_I take another sip of my juice. “Oh, yeah? Why’s that?”_

_Embry sighs. “Because I don’t know who my dad is,” he replies. “My mom never told me, although it’s been narrowed down considerably for me...”_

_I raise my eyebrows. “Has it?”_

_He nods. “Yeah. It’s either Jacob’s dad, Quil’s dad, or Sam’s dad.”_

_I nearly choke on my juice. “I know Jacob’s dad was married...”_

_Embry laughs, grabbing a napkin from the coffee table and gently dabbing my face. “He was, yeah. Of course, everyone wants it to be Sam’s dad.”_

_“Why?”_

_“Because Sam’s dad always had a bad reputation,” Embry replies simply._

_I nod. “Well, I can see why people would want it to be Sam’s dad, then.” I check my phone then and see a text from my dad, from fifteen minutes ago, that he’ll be home in an hour. I tell Embry that I’m cooking for me and my dad that evening, and I feel the palpable disappointment in my voice and in Embry’s eyes._

_“I’ll walk you home,” he says, getting to his feet and offering me his hand._

_I chuckle at that, allowing him to help me up. “It’s across the street.”_

_He shrugs. “Does it matter?”_

_I shrug back. “Guess not,” I say, flashing him a grin and walking through to the kitchen to say goodbye and thank you to Charlie and Sue._

_Sue embraces me and Charlie grips my shoulder affectionately before Bella pulls me in for a swift hug. Edward gives me a half hug and says goodbye to me as I zip up my sweater and head outside. I manage to get down the stairs without twisting my ankle or killing myself as Embry shuts the door behind me. We walk down the small path between the stairs and the sidewalk and make our way into the middle of the street; Embry reaches for my hand and I allow him to take it._

_We get across the street in one piece and head up my father’s walk and up the stairs, back onto the front porch where I met Embry just a few hours ago. I turn and face him then, heart in my throat, wondering what to expect next. Despite my mother’s urging, I’d never dated anyone down in California, and hadn’t done anything with guy’s my own age. Having a totally hot one less than a foot away from me was truly a daunting experience._

_“Would you mind if I called you sometime?” Embry asks. “Or...texted...”_

_I laugh a little bit, and that sound eases the tension as we swap phones and put each other’s numbers into our contact list. “Thanks,” I say as he hands his phone back to me. “You know, other than my dad, you’re my first Forks phone number. And that just sounded way more pathetic than I intended it to...”_

_Embry smiles. “Didn’t sound pathetic to me.”_

_I shake my head then, my thoughts turning dark as a cloud moves suddenly over the sun, and the heavens open and it begins to rain. “Oh, rain!” I cry out, shocked._

_Embry laughs a little then. “Some say rain is romantic.”_

_“Some say?” I demand, and a crash of thunder overtakes my senses._

_Embry smiles, putting a bit of hair behind my ear. “I’d say so.”_

_I lower my eyes. “Maybe,” I allow._

_Embry reaches out then and tilts my chin up, leaning in and brushing his lips with mine. I feel immense disappointment when I feel absolutely nothing, but it doesn’t dissuade my kissing partner. Not wanting to disappoint him, I remain rooted to the spot, crossing my fingers that this loathsome activity ends soon..._

. . . 

The following morning, as dawn broke over the treetops, I kissed Richard goodbye and slipped from the bedroom. I saw Rosalie and Emmett heading into the nursery and I stepped forward, putting a hand on Rosalie’s arm. She seemed pleased to see me yet shocked at the physical contact, but I flashed her a smile.

“Rosalie, it would mean a lot to me if you would be willing to be one of my Bridesmaids,” I said to her.

Rosalie was touched. “Oh... Oh, Beth,” she says, stepping forward and embracing me. “I can’t believe it. Thank you.”

I pull back then, a bit shocked at the fact that she hasn’t released my hands. “Yes. Well, you know as well as I do that you’re my sister, Rose.”

She grins at that. “I am,” she replies. “Emmett and I were thinking of taking the twins and Sarah to Port Angeles to do some more shopping before the move to London. Would you mind if we did?”

I shake my head. “Of course not, Rose. Go right ahead. Have fun.”

Rosalie thanks me and slips into the nursery with Emmett as I make my way down the rest of the hall and down the back staircase and outside. I felt like a rat, slipping out of the house just after dawn, and avoiding Alice, knowing that she would be hurt that I was not allowing her to plan my wedding. Besides, I reassured myself, she must’ve planned Rosalie and Emmett’s many weddings over the years, and there were bound to be more. It’s not as if I was knowingly taking some satisfaction away from her...

I reach the edge of the woods and, just as I am about to charge through the trees, I hear a howl off in the distance. I wonder if Renesmee is visiting Bella and Edward this morning, and I initially think that the howl resonated from Jacob. Thinking nothing of it, I move to continue walking through the sparse trees, which is when I hear a twig snap. Turning, I see that the howl came from Seth Clearwater, and I find myself smiling at him. Other than Jacob, he was the most receptive to the kindness of the Cullen’s and, as Bella’s step brother, he was part of the extended family as well.

“Hi, Seth,” I call out to him, forcing myself not to hold my nose. Even though he was a lovely person, I still had difficulty with their scent.

“Hey, Beth,” he says, stepping forward and giving me that sweet smile of his. “How’s it going today?”

I return his smile. “Fine, thanks. How are you?”

He shrugs. “Can’t complain. Listen,” he says, stepping forward, a concerned look in his dark eyes, “you know how us shapeshifters can hear each other’s thoughts when we’re in our element?”

I nod. “Yeah, Bella and Edward mentioned that...”

“Well, I think you should know that Embry’s pretty torn up about what happened on the night of your birthday party,” Seth blurts out, almost as if he’d been debating telling me Embry’s intimate thoughts and feelings on his love life. “I know he probably wouldn’t want me saying anything, Beth, but he’s like a brother to me. I hate seeing him hurt, and I think he’d really like it if you could give him another chance...”

I sigh. “It’s really not that simple, Seth. For one thing, he and I haven’t really talked at all, and then he suddenly declares his love for me. Plus, he was really insulting to me when we first met and everything...”

“But I know he’s really sorry about that, Beth. He said so.”

I smile at him. “I’m sure Embry is sorry, Seth, really. But I don’t think it would be a good idea if he and I were friends.”

“Why?” Seth asks.

I sigh, shaking my head; I guessed then that werewolves probably weren’t really the gossiping kind when it came to other creatures. I held up my left hand, the diamond catching in the morning light as the sun rose; as the great ball of light hit my face, the giant jewel was not the only thing sparkling. “Seth, Richard has asked me to marry him,” I reply, slowly, gently. “He asked me last night to be his wife.”

Seth shuffles from foot to foot. “And I guess you’re not just keeping that jewel warm, am I right?”

I nod. “You would be,” I reply. “I told Richard I would be his wife.”

Seth nods. “Well, I guess I understand. Hey, everyone wants to be happy, right?”

I nod back. “You’d be right.” I chatted with him for another few minutes before excusing myself to continue heading down to the cottage. I open the door without knocking and step inside the living room; the fire is crackling again and, as soon as I shut the door behind me, Bella zooms into the living room.

“Good morning, bride-to-be,” she jokes.

I laugh at that, looking behind her. “Where’s Edward?”

“Abducting Emmett and Jasper—as Groomsmen, they’re obligated to bend to his will when it comes to planning the bachelor party,” Bella explains. Her laptop is under her arm and the two of us sit cross-legged on the couch as she opens it, placing it center stage upon her imported French coffee table in front of us. “Now, I assume you want the wedding somewhere memorable?”

I shake my head. “No. Here is fine. I saw some of the shots taken at yours and Edward’s wedding, and it was beautiful.”

Bella smiles, touched. “Well, then, location is all taken care of. Now, flowers?”

“Roses,” I reply, instantly. “They’re my favorite and the smell relaxes me. Plus, they’re one of the few flowers I can still smell now that I’m a vampire.”

Bella smiles in sympathy and writes down the kind of flowers I want. “You and I can go to Seattle or something...”

I smile at her. “There’s a David’s Bridal in Lynnwood.”

Bella raises her eyebrows. “You looked into it?”

I nod. “Yes. Booked us all an appointment for a week and a half. You, Rosalie, Alice, Esme, and I all have to go in there. You need a Maid of Honor dress, Rosalie and Alice need Bridesmaid dresses, and Esme needs a mother of the bride dress. Checked with her already and Esme is all on board.”

“And you’ll have to tell Alice,” Bella says softly.

I nod. “Yes. That’ll be a conversation for the books...”

“So, dress shopping appointment has been set, you know what flowers you want, you’ve picked your location...” Bella types furiously, and as efficiently as a top-notch wedding planner or a college freshman amped up on coffee. “Are you picking out what Richard, Edward, and the Groomsmen will be wearing?”

I shake my head. “But I do have final approval.”

“We can get Angela’s father to recite the vows if you like,” Bella suggests.

I smile and nod. I’d never met Angela face-to-face, but the few times Bella had spoken to her on Skype proved her to be very nice. She had been Bella’s closest human friend, and was now happily married to her high school boyfriend, Ben. She and Ben had welcomed their twins, Ophelia and Rex, just a short time ago, and I knew that I would want them all at the wedding.

“Any thought on color?” Bella asks. “For the Bridesmaid dresses?”

“Yes,” I reply. “Rosalie in blue, Alice in purple.”

Bella smiles. “And me?” she asks, genuinely curious.

“Green,” I reply. “Looks good with our hair, you know.”

“And you’ll be wearing white?” Bella asks.

“Of course,” I say, ending on a laugh. “I’ve always imagined the length, style, neckline... I think I’d like a strapless ballgown of some kind,” I reply, lowering my eyes and letting out a small giggle. Leaning in closer to her then, I say quietly, “Do you ever find that certain memories come back to you the longer we’re immortal?”

Bella’s eyebrows knit together. “Sometimes,” she replies. “Why?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. It’s mainly the week leading up to the transformation that’s suddenly coming back to me.”

“And you don’t think that you might just influence your mind to remember certain things because you’re having second thoughts, are you?” Bella asks.

Immediately, I shake my head. “No, never,” I say, raising my eyes to meet hers. “I love Richard and I can’t wait to marry him.”

“Okay,” Bella says. “What are you remembering?”

“I remember being alone at my dad’s one afternoon and you, Edward, Renesmee, and Jacob went over to your dad and Sue’s place,” I say softly. “I remember Embry coming over and initially inviting my dad over but when he found out that my dad was at work and that I was his daughter, Embry told me to go over to your dad’s and I did.”

Bella smiles. “Yes, I remember. Edward almost blew his cover on his ability to hear thoughts to you,” she says. “Neither of us could explain it, but we were very comfortable around you, more so than other humans. I’m convinced that Alice saw a bit of your future and told Jasper to influence our minds and thoughts and feelings to automatically accepting you. It wouldn’t have taken very long if they didn’t, however...”

I bite my lip then, concerned. “Embry doesn’t seem to remember meeting me initially, but I think that he may have inadvertently imprinted on me...”

Bella shakes her head. “Unless you reciprocated his feelings, he couldn’t have. For a long time, Jacob was convinced that he could have imprinted on me. But I never returned his feelings to the degree that he did.”

I run my hands through my hair. “He kissed me, and I let him...”

Bella reaches out and grips my hand. “Doesn’t mean anything. I know what you’ve mentioned to me of your past...” She sighs. “In my years of being a vampire, I got a degree in psychology, and I can tell you upfront that, due to your past, you have an instinct to please others for fear of being hurt again.”

I lower my eyes. “Dammit...you’d be right...” I sigh, wishing to cry then, and feel my shoulders caving inwards. “God, Andy hurt me so much... All I can remember is trying my best to keep on being nice just so he wouldn’t continue... I remember when Embry kissed me, I flashed back to all of Andy’s dirty deeds and I just...”

“What?” Bella asks.

“I felt like I was eager to please him,” I reply, shaking with broken sobs as Bella reaches out and pulls me into her arms. Even though no tears came, I sobbed brokenly, shaking in my sister’s arms. “All I could think of was ‘Will he be mad at me if I don’t kiss him back?’ I just couldn’t live with myself if...”

Bella nods. “I know. I can’t imagine. I’m so sorry, Beth.”

I pull back from her again, letting out a sigh; it was unnecessary, because vampires didn’t need to breathe. I rolled my shoulders to get a sense of normalcy before turning to look at Bella’s precise note taking on her laptop screen. “More planning,” I say, tucking a stray hair behind my ear and wanting to forget.

. . .

Exactly a week and a half later—and a full week after telling Alice that Bella was going to be my Maid of Honor—Bella, Esme, Rosalie, Alice, Sarah, and I all drove along the highway to the Kingston ferry. Once across, we made our way through the city of Edmonds and down south to the city of Lynnwood, where our appointment at David’s Bridal was set promptly for eleven a.m. on the dot. Once we arrived, I stepped forward and gave my name, and told our attendant, a rather flamboyant gentleman named Harrison, everyone’s select roles in my wedding, and he promptly showed us to our space.

“Based on your likes and dislikes for your style,” Harrison called over his shoulder, “I’ve selected a few strapless ballgowns for you.”

“Thank you,” I reply.

“And I managed to fetch your Bridesmaids a few things in your specifications in the colors you selected.”

“How wonderful!” Rosalie said, clapping her hands.

“Pretty fabric,” Alice said, running her hands along a purple number meant for her.

“Mother of the Bride, I take it?” Harrison asks, looking Esme up and down.

Esme smiles. “That’s me.”

“The bride has suggested something in a rose gold for you,” Harrison says, and Esme flashes me a smile, touched. “Something in A-line, I think,” Harrison continues, “with a diamond neckline and tulip sleeves...” Harrison takes Esme’s measurements just to be sure before showing Esme over to her corner, before his eyes land upon Sarah. “And who do we have here?” he asks. “What’s your name, sweetheart?”

Sarah smiles shyly, clearly enjoying the attention. “Sarah,” she replies.

“My daughter,” I say, and, to his effort, Harrison tries his best not to look so shocked. Of course, with Sarah visibly four-years-old, and me looking seventeen forever, it meant I would’ve had to have her at thirteen, which was clearly shocking.

“Of course,” Harrison says. “You must be the Flower Girl.”

Sarah grins. “That’s me!” she cries, and Rosalie turns from admiring a mermaid-cut blue dress—which would suit her perfectly—and smiles indulgently.

“She’s cute, isn’t she?” Alice says softly to Rosalie, from her corner of the room, where she is looking at a tea-length purple dress.

Bella chuckles softly at Sarah, and proceeds to look in her corner, where she seems to be taken with a simple, old-fashioned, high-low pale green number. Her perfect eyebrows raise when she sees that its exactly her size, and follows Alice and Rosalie into the suite of dressing rooms around the corner. Sarah gives Harrison some ideas of what she’s interested in, and Harrison absorbs her likes and dislikes like some kind of flowery plant. He then puts up a perfectly manicured finger and assures Sarah that he has exactly what she’s looking for, and takes her over to another corner where some of the prettiest party dresses I’ve ever seen are hung up.

Bella, Rosalie, Alice, Esme, and I, of course, decline the offer of champagne but Sarah claps her hands and accepts a sparkling cider. Harrison is careful not to damage the little dresses intended for Sarah as she sips her drink and looks all of them over. Finally, one catches her eye in particular—a sleeveless white gown with violets decorating it. It also sports a white silk ribbon around the middle, and its skirt flares out wonderfully. I move to take Sarah’s drink from her and place it upon a side table as Rosalie—now dressed in that beautiful blue mermaid-cut dress—takes her by the hand and leads her back into the dressing room to try it on.

Bella, now dressed in her pale green number, guides me over to the beautiful selection of wedding gown Harrison selected for me. Pouring over them all, I find each is more beautiful than the last, and find out just how difficult this choice will be. My mind wanders then, and I wonder if Richard could manipulate Embry’s mind into thinking that he and I had never met before. Of course, I would have always selected Richard naturally, but the very notion that he could have hindered my decision making struck a chord. It was almost as if he was purposefully manipulating my choice to his favor, which didn’t really seem fair...

I selected a gown at random and Bella accompanied me back into the dressing room. I held onto the bar along the wall as I stepped into it, getting a look at myself in the small mirror as Bella positioned it correctly and laced it properly in the back. She pulled a bit at the long train and smoothed it in the back while I did so in the front. I raised my eyes to the mirror to look again, but Bella took me by the hand and led me out of my dressing room and down along the others until we got to the ‘showroom’. I stood upon the provided hassock in the center of the room and Alice, Rosalie, Esme, Sarah, and Harrison all turned to look at me in this impressive gown.

“One of our originals,” Harrison puts in proudly.

“You look beautiful,” Alice praised.

“I love the fabric,” Rosalie cooed.

“Absolutely gorgeous,” Esme put in.

“You look like a princess!” Sarah cries.

“It really suits you,” Bella tells me quietly.

I smile at their praise and turn to look at myself in the floor-length mirror behind me. This gown had a sweetheart neckline, was strapless, was white, and was a ballgown. It was everything I wanted in a dress, and I immediately selected it. Alice helped me choose a veil and promised to help me with my make-up the day of, and Rosalie told me that she and I could look in various bridal magazines she had saved and could decide on a proper hairstyle for me. I thanked them all, and even took Esme’s advice to wear a tiara inside my veil, as it would look more old fashioned that way.

We bought all our dresses and accessories, which Alice would store in her massive closet until the day of, just to make sure they wouldn’t be looked at. Edward had promised not to actively read Alice’s mind in the last couple of weeks leading up to the ceremony, so as not to spoil the surprise for anyone. We arrived back home in just under two hours, and Bella went off in the direction of the cottage; Sarah had fallen asleep so Rosalie was going to take her up to the nursery, and Esme and Carlisle were going to go over some more wedding plans with Alice, who was now on board. As I made my way towards the house to see Richard, Bella called me over.

“Edward sent me a text while we were out,” she says. “He has an early wedding present for you and would like you to come to the cottage.”

Perplexed at what it might be, I moved to follow Bella, taking down my shield. _It’d better be good_, I joked inwardly, and I swore I could hear a chuckle from the cottage. We made our way through the remainder of the woods, over the lake, and into the last of the trees as we approached the cottage. Bella walked up the small lane first and I followed, shutting the door behind us as she continued down the hall to their bedroom, while I opted to wait in the living room.

“Beth.”

I turned to see Edward stepping in, Bella just behind him, and smiled. “Hey,” I said as a little sister might say to an older brother, stepping forward and embracing him ever so slightly. “So, why have I been summoned, big brother?”

“It’s so weird not being the youngest anymore,” he says, shaking his head and producing a box from his pocket. “Open it up,” he said encouragingly.

I smile and take the box. “What did you do?” I ask him, pulling slowly at the ribbon that he must’ve tied himself.

Edward smiles. “Nothing. Promise.”

I bite my lip then as I get the last of the ribbon off and lift the lid. Inside the velvet interior of the old box lay one of the most beautiful pieces of antique jewelry I’d ever seen. It was a double rope of pearls, the middle of which would hang downwards towards my bosom and a lone pearl drop dipped from the center. In between the ropes and the pearl was an intricate pattern, with a larger diamond in the center, and was decorated beautifully with smaller jewels. My jaw dropped and, had I still been human, I probably would’ve dropped the thing and it would’ve crashed into a thousand pieces.

“Edward...”

“Before you say anything,” Edward says quickly, “it was my mother’s. Esme, Alice, Rosalie, and Bella all have various pieces of my mother’s jewelry. Bella’s ring is the most recent piece I gifted,” he said softly. “I realized as your wedding approached that, not only had I not gotten you anything yet, but you were still lacking a piece of jewelry once belonging to Elizabeth Masen.”

I shake my head. “Edward...”

He smiles, reading my thoughts. “Yes, Rosalie had her eye on this one. Whenever she and Emmett were getting married again, she’d always ask for it, but I knew that Rosalie wasn’t the proper owner of this piece of jewelry. And then we met you and I just readily assumed it was for you, and it is.”

I smile. “It’s beautiful,” I say, carefully taking it out of the box and making my way over to the mirror, where I clip it around my neck. “Gorgeous,” I whisper, turning this way and that so as the jewels catch the light. “I’ll wear it with my wedding dress,” I whisper, putting it safely back into the box. _I love it, I love it, I love it_, I assure him mentally before pulling him into a second hug. “You’re amazing, Edward—thank you.”

I leave the cottage soon thereafter to allow Bella to tell Edward all about our shopping experience in Lynnwood. I make my way through the woods back towards the house, and soon I am up and over the lake and just by the final batch of trees. Just as I am about to leave them, the familiar twig snap comes forth from behind me and I turn, totally shocked to see Embry behind me.

“Hello, Embry,” I say levelly.

He steps forward then, purpose and determination in his eyes. “That leech you’re going to marry wiped and restored my memory,” he says, flatly.

I stiffen visibly then, knowing that Edward must have read my mind and sent along the message to Richard. _Stay out of this Edward_, I growl at him. “Did he?” I ask Embry. “I’m sorry—I didn’t know.”

“How could you not know?” Embry demands, clearly hurt.

I sigh. “Embry, I’m a shield, like Bella. I can’t always allow certain abilities to—”

“Affect you, of course not,” Embry says, angry. He shakes his head. “I know it was barely for a week, Beth, but we had so much time together...”

I sigh. “I’m sorry, Embry. Memory is a mysterious thing when you’re a vampire, really. Every day, it seems, I get another set of my human life into my subconscious, and I’m able to recall more and more. These last couple of days is when I was able to remember some of what went on between us...”

“Did you?” Embry asks.

I nod. “Yes. And I’m sorry to tell you that when I remembered that first day, when the rainstorm happened, and you kissed me, I didn’t feel anything.”

“You were probably just in shock,” he says quickly. “We’d just met a few hours before all that. I mean, sometimes we wolves tend to go too far...”

“Embry.” My voice is firm, so he stops talking and making excuses. “It didn’t have anything to do with the fact that I’d just met you—it was nothing like that at all. It had to do with the fact that, like Jacob, you believed I had feelings for you. I didn’t match those feelings, so you were unable to imprint on me.”

Embry looks as if I’ve knifed him. “That’s not true...”

“Embry, yes. Yes, it is true.”

He charges at me then, and grabs me by my arms, and it takes all the restraint I have not to lash out at him. “There’s still time,” he assures me. “We can make this work...”

“Didn’t Seth talk to you?” I ask him then.

“Seth?”

“Yes, Seth,” I say, firmly. “I’m engaged,” I say, just managing to barely hold up my hand. “I accepted Richard’s marriage proposal. We’re getting married.”

“No. No!” Embry says, and lets me go then. Then, after a moment, he says passionately, fervently, “It’s not too late,” and takes me totally by surprise when he proceeds to lean in kiss me.

“Embry, don’t...” I say, but it is too late and he kisses me, throwing his arms around my frame and bringing me up against him. At once, I see red, and shove him away from me, punching him quickly in the face, sending him backwards and hitting a tree. “What’s the matter with you?!” I roar at him, and hear a door slam and quick footsteps. I see Edward running from one direction, Bella just behind him, and I feel Richard behind me.

“Edward?” Bella says, shocked.

Richard seems to ambush Embry then, grabbing him by his collar and shoving him up against the tree he’d hit. “She’s my fiancée, my _fiancée_!” Richard hissed in Embry’s face, sounding a combination of broken and enraged. “_Never_ touch her again...”

Edward promptly shoves Richard back, holding him firmly. “Richard, let it alone,” he tells him, knowing that no good would come of him going into full attack mode.

“Oh, no,” Bella says then, and my eyes become unglued from Edward holding Richard as Bella crouches to examine Embry. She gingerly touches Embry’s back, where he’d hit the tree the hardest, and Embry lets out an earth shattering scream. Bella dashes to the edge of the woods, presumably about to scream for Carlisle, when Carlisle himself dashes out of the house, breezing past me, Emmett at his heels. Immediately, guilt washes over me as Carlisle examines Embry, and instructs Emmett to help him in lifting him up into the air. The pair of them say nothing as they carry the shapeshifter into the house, just as a car pulls up in the Cullen’s driveway. I watch as Jacob gets out of the driver’s seat, Renesmee out of the passenger, with Seth, Leah, and Quil getting out of the back. The small group moves up to the main stairs of the house, while howls echo in the distance.

Shaking, I barely glance over at Richard as he moves to comfort me, and dash through the woods, past the cottage, and just keep running. I scale the side of the mountain in no time and climb up to the first cliff I can find—_the _cliff. I fall to my knees as soon as I reach the top, and let out a scream of frustration, which mingles with the howls of pain I hear, and know that the wolves can feel a lesser extent of Embry’s pain. I knew in that moment that I’d pushed Embry away in order not to hurt Richard, but a small part of me had awakened as soon as his lips had met mine. Yes, I loved Embry, but, since I’d given my acceptance to Richard’s proposal, I’d given him my heart, and, therefore, could not be imprinted on by Embry, I saw that now.

Letting out a scream of anguish for what could have been, I raise my hands skyward, still shaking. I hoped that Edward wouldn’t tell Richard my thoughts in these moments, for I didn’t want the world to continue to be black. Yes, I loved Richard, and yes, I wanted to marry him, but as I split the sky, rain and thunder came shooting from me then, and I couldn’t see myself doing much of anything.

“Beth.”

The word was soft, comforting, and I turned, seeing Richard standing just behind me. I let out a dry sob, dashing to him as the rain fell around us, and threw my arms around him. “Is Embry going to be okay?” I ask him, desperately.

“Yes. Carlisle thinks that he’ll be back to himself in a few hours.”

I lower my eyes. “Good.”

Richard gently raises my chin. “I know.”

“Edward told you?” I guessed.

He shakes his head. “He didn’t have to. I saw it when he kissed you. I know you only shoved him away because you didn’t want to hurt me.”

“And are you hurt?”

He smiles, sadly. “Well, I’m only hurt that I didn’t give you the opportunity to be with Embry if that’s what you wanted.”

I shake my head. “I want _you_,” I tell him, instantly.

“And I want you, too, Beth. Even though you love Embry...”

“I love you more,” I tell him, firmly.

“I know,” Richard replies.

I sigh. “If you don’t want to marry me anymore,” I say, twisting the ring ever so slightly on its finger, “I understand.”

Richard reaches down and takes my hand, hindering me from taking it off. “If you want to give it a shot with Embry...”

“No,” I reply. “I don’t want to give it a shot with Embry. Promise.”

He smiles again. “All right. So, we’re still getting married?”

I step forward, and his arms go around me automatically. I tuck my head beneath his chin, and I still find myself feeling safe in his arms. There was no place I’d rather be, in the grand scheme of things, and I knew that this wedding would happen. “We’re still getting married,” I whisper softly against his throat.


	10. I Don’t Need Anything But You

_I slipped inside after saying goodbye to Embry and unzipped my sweater, hanging it upon its peg in the hallway. Fighting the urge to wash my mouth out, I go into the kitchen and merely wash my hands before taking the chicken out of the fridge. I get a frying pan to cook it quickly and add some oil; I then get out one of my father’s only pots and fill it with water for the pasta. Instead of buttered noodles, I’d made the choice to throw everything into a casserole and to bake it, with a fine layer of cheese to top it all off._

_A few minutes later, the chicken was cooked and the water came to a boil. I set the chicken aside, intending to dice it up once the pasta was cooked. I selected a shape of pasta at random and added it to the boiling, slightly salted water, the hum of the kitchen fan a constant in my ear. I’d preheated the oven to four-hundred degrees and got a casserole dish and greased it so as the clean-up would be easier. The pasta was finally cooked a few moments later and I strained it, putting a dash more salt onto it before setting it aside to dice the chicken._

_Once the chicken was the perfect size, I intermingled the pieces with the pasta inside the greased casserole dish. I’d grated some fresh mozzarella and I put it on the top, seasoning it with salt, pepper, and garlic powder before putting it into the oven. I’d also prepared a Caesar salad for the two of us, which would remain undressed until after we were all set to eat our dinner. I then put all the dishwasher safe dishes into said dishwasher, and then proceeded to scrub the pots, pans, and any other dish I used to make this dinner before putting everything into the adjacent drying rack._

_The casserole would have to bake forty-five minutes to an hour, and, when it had been in there for around half an hour, Dad came in the front door. I’d been perched in one of the chairs at the kitchen table, my nose buried in Northanger Abbey, my third favorite Jane Austen novel, as Dad stepped in. I raise my eyes to him, and flashed him a smile, pleased to see him._

_“Hey, Dad. How was work?” I ask him._

_“Mostly clerical stuff today, thank god,” he replies, getting a bottle of beer from the fridge and opening it quickly. “Smells good in here—you make something?”_

_I nod, proud and pleased that he’s mentioned it. “Yes,” I reply. “Dinner is in the oven. It should all be ready in fifteen to thirty minutes.”_

_Dad raises his eyebrows and takes in the bowl on the counter. “Salad, too?” he asks, clearly touched._

_I nod, also motioning to the fridge. “Cake batter in a cake tin, ready to go into the oven once the lemon chicken and pasta bake is finished,” I say. “Made the lemon chicken and pasta because I know it’s your favorite.”_

_“What kind of cake?” Dad asks._

_“Vanilla,” I reply, “my favorite.”_

_“My second favorite,” Dad says with a chuckle._

_“Great minds,” I reply, chuckling. “You can eat in front of the T.V. if you want to. Your house, after all,” I tell him with a smile._

_Dad shakes his head. “No, that’s fine. I’ll catch the end of the game and then you can tell me when dinner’s ready. Okay?” he asks._

_I nod. “No problem,” I reply as he heads into the living room. I hear him switching on the T.V. and finding the football game while I open the oven, smelling the delicious meal I’ve prepared. Smiling to myself, I think another fifteen minutes will be fine as I shut the oven and slip into the living room after Dad._

_He’s sitting in an arm chair facing the flat screen; I sit down on the couch and alternate between my book and the game. Dad could easily tell from the beginning that sports weren’t really my thing and did his best not to rely on them as a conversation starter. I just liked his company, I found, and it was nice to know he didn’t object to me just sitting quietly with him. When the commercial break began, he muted the T.V. and turned back to me, and I felt him smiling at me._

_“What?” I ask._

_He shrugs. “Nothing. Just worried about you here, alone all day.”_

_“It’s not like I know any guys,” I joke, hoping that he won’t ask me about my sex life. “I mean, no house parties or anything like that...”_

_“No, I know,” he says quickly. “I trust you. I just don’t want you getting lonely.”_

_“I wasn’t—today,” I reply. “I went grocery shopping and then someone came to the door and I went to a party with them.”_

_Dad sits a little straighter in his seat, obviously concerned. “A stranger?”_

_I nod. “Yeah—but how else am I going to meet anyone, really?” I laugh a little at his expression and quickly stop myself. “He was only a stranger to me, Dad. He said he knew you and we went to Charlie and Sue’s and hung out there.”_

_Relief floods my dad’s expression. “That’s a relief. What’s his name?”_

_“Embry Call,” I reply._

_Dad looks surprised yet delighted. “Nice kid. Looks good for his age, too.”_

_“Good for his age?” I ask, confused. “He doesn’t look a day over seventeen...”_

_Dad smiles. “Embry’s about twenty-two now, but he works out so much, it takes the years off, I guess. I don’t ask questions.”_

_“Uh-huh,” I say, getting up to check on dinner, and wondering why Embry would have me believing that he was a teenager._

. . .

Carlisle’s prognosis on Embry was amazing—he was up on his feet by dawn the following morning, and running off soon thereafter. However, with Richard’s blessing, I was permitted to visit with him beforehand, in the hopes that he and I could resolve our differences. I step into the exam room, the same room where I was transformed fully, and make my way up to the table, hoping that Embry was awake or easy to wake up.

“Embry,” I say quietly, running my fingers gently along his arm. I’d discovered that werewolves ran a few degrees hotter than that of a human, whereas we vampires ran several degrees cooler. “Hey, Embry.”

Embry opens his eyes, stiffening at my cool fingers as he turns to look at me. “You must think I’m an idiot,” he says, managing to lift one of his hands to slap his forehead. “I mean, you’re engaged...”

“Don’t worry about that,” I reply. “Embry, there’s something you need to understand about me—my mother was dating a guy who she later married, and he was abusive.”

Embry grabbed the rotator dial on the side of the exam table so as he could get into a semi-comfortable sitting position. “What? He hit you?”

I lower my eyes. “Among other things, yes,” I reply.

“You mean he’d...?” He didn’t have to say it.

I raise my eyes to meet his dark ones. “Yes, Embry. He would, and because of all that, I slowly became eager to please the male authority figures around me, in fear that they would hurt me if I didn’t. So, that’s why I forced myself to keep seeing you in the whole boyfriend/girlfriend way, because I wanted you to be happy.”

“But, in so doing, you sacrificed your own happiness,” Embry says, shaking his head. “I don’t think I could live with myself knowing you were so unhappy...” He whispers, turning to stare up at the ceiling.

I reach out and take his hand. “I _do_ love you, Embry, you figured that out right,” I tell him softly. “But I fell in love—head over heels—with Richard. I think a part of me loves you that isn’t a sustainable love, you know? I’m not the person you were meant to imprint on, but I know they’re out there, somewhere.”

Embry sighs. “I guess you’re right. I’m sorry.”

“No, _I’m _sorry,” I tell him. “I’m sorry that I can’t love you fully. I wish that I could either love you fully or not at all, but we’ll never have full closure this way.” I lean down and briefly brush his lips with mine, squeezing his hand. “I’m sorry,” I say again, before letting his hand go and slipping from the room.

. . .

My heart, or what was left of it, broke to see Embry leave like that, but I knew it was for the best, for I still had so much to do when it came to planning my wedding. Alice and I drove to Port Angeles the following afternoon and helped me pick out shoes for everyone at this historic-looking shoe store. It was our job to get shoes for ourselves, for Bella, for Rosalie, for Esme, and for Sarah, although Alice had also given Jasper a list of do’s and don’ts for shoe shopping for a wedding.

Alice gave in to my wishes to look in an antique shop, and I found a few pieces—mainly paintings by a great favorite of mine, John William Waterhouse—to put in the London house. I even managed to find another Russian nesting doll, while Alice looked on in an indulgent manner, as she found some flimsy negligée for herself to surprise Jasper with. I tried to force myself not to laugh as we each paid for our purchases, leaving the store and making our way back to Alice’s impressive yellow Porsche which had been sort of a bribe from Edward. Alice had adored the thing, but now she was on her second, as she’d had to update it when the former one had gone too out of style for her.

We drove quickly back to Forks, Alice promising to store the shoes in her massive closet while I was permitted to take the paintings and my new doll upstairs to my bedroom. Even though I was tempted to show off the adorable white silk shoes I’d gotten for Sarah, I knew that the element of surprise was the best way. Rosalie would be doing her hair on the day of, too, and I knew it would be a wonderful bonding experience for the two of them. I knew that Sarah would make a wonderful flower girl and, on the day of the wedding, during the reception, Richard and I would reveal to everyone that the adoption papers had been signed by Jasper’s worker, J. Jenks, and that we’d officially adopted her, Lucas, and Francis and that we were all Cullen’s.

I saw a quick text from Richard, saying that he and the boys had gone to Seattle for the day to do some wedding shopping of their own, at Men’s Warehouse. I smiled, pleased that he’d shared the information with me, and wondered what I could do with myself now that the house was empty of men. I decided to ask Alice to watch Sarah and the boys for a while, as I wanted to spend some time with Rosalie. Alice knocked on my door at that moment and said that she’d be pleased to watch Sarah and the twins.

I then found Rosalie on her way back to Sarah’s room, and I stopped her. “I was wondering when you last had a hunt,” I asked, noticing that her eyes were becoming darker. “I’m due for one myself. Would you care to join me?”

Rosalie smiles. “I would, but Sarah and I were about to have a tea party...”

Alice quickly appeared at my side. “I’ll have a tea party with Sarah, Rose. Go on. Go have a hunt with Beth.”

“When was the last time you hunted?” Rosalie asked.

“Last night, with Jasper,” Alice replies quickly.

Satisfied, Rosalie handed over supplies she’d taken out of hers and Emmett’s room for the tea party and followed me downstairs and out the door. We walked to the edge of the woods before I briefly turned back to her, catching her perfect smile. Then, I quickly shot off like a bullet in a gun, and Rosalie hurried to catch up to me. I jumped over the river and dashed past the cottage, Rosalie at my heels, and, once we’d reached the clearing, put out my hand to stop her.

“What?” Rosalie asked.

“Deer to the west, bear to the north, mountain lion to the east,” I whisper. “Which sounds the most appealing to you?”

“Mountain lion,” Rosalie just manages to get out, and I can tell that this is her favorite.

“Good,” I reply, and we run east, slipping effortlessly through the trees as we get closer and closer to our prize. I inhale in a second clearing, and find that the scent is stronger, headier, than before, and charge towards it. Two massive males are fighting, and I turn to Rosalie, who nods in agreement. She goes off to the right and I choose the left, hiding in some thin brush, waiting to make our move.

The males are going at it, and I know full well that we should be quick, so as one doesn’t die by the other’s hand. I catch a glimpse of Rosalie a few feet away, and we’re both in our respective springing positions, ready to strike. Then, we launch ourselves into the air and grab ahold of our kills, pulling them effortlessly away from the other as they roar in surprise as we flip them over onto their backs. I cannot see Rosalie, but I feel her behind me as I bend down, fangs poised, and slice through the neck of my mountain lion. Its blood is warm and appetizing, and I shiver all over at the feeling of it entering my system, as the big cats’ fur grows colder beneath me by the minute. I get to my feet, positive I’m blood-free, and turn back to Rosalie, who gives me an effortless smile.

“Done?” I ask, gesturing to the carcass at her feet. “Need a deer in you or something?” I ask her, flashing her a smile.

Rosalie grins. “No, I’m fine, thank you. Want to walk back?”

I nod. “Sure.” I step closer and fall into step beside her. “So, how are Emmett’s wedding preparations going?” I ask.

“Fine, thank you,” Rosalie replies. “He’s taking the lead from Richard and Edward, mostly from Edward, because he knows exactly the vision you want.”

“He hasn’t given away what the wedding dress looks like, has he?”

Rosalie laughs. “No, don’t worry. Edward’s trustworthy.”

I sigh, wanting to get this out there. “Rose?”

“Yeah?” she asks, navigating herself around a rather large rock.

“Carlisle told me all about your abilities early on—other than Edward and Alice’s obvious ones—he said that Emmett had superior strength and your beauty was enhanced?” I ask her, not wanting to insult her.

She nods. “Yes.”

“You’re gorgeous, don’t get me wrong, but...”

“But what?” Rosalie asks, genuinely curious.

I sigh. “I don’t know... I think maybe it could have something to do with my shield. I can’t sense anything out of the ordinary about it.”

Rosalie raises her eyebrows. “Bella’s shield was never immune to it...” She shakes her head and puts an arm around my shoulders. “Why don’t we give Eleazar a call when we get back to the house?” she asks. “We can have them RSVP verbally to the wedding—Alice’ll love that—and ask him about your inability to see my superior beauty.”

I share in her laugh in that as we break away from one another, streaking immediately past the cottage and over the river. We dart through the last of the trees and up the back steps, opening the door quickly and going through the kitchen. Rosalie pulls me upstairs and into hers and Emmett’s bedroom—clearly something out of the Marie Antoinette handbook—and motions for me to sit down on her bed while she fetches her laptop from the impressive desk by the large window.

Rosalie opens and logs in to her laptop and clicks the Skype icon, the page opening quickly and clicks the name ‘Eleazar’ on her contact list. The typical phone call sound fills the room and, quite soon, Eleazar’s face fills the screen. He appears delighted, albeit a little shocked, at seeing the two of us together, and congratulates me on my engagement to Richard almost immediately, and I’m completely touched.

“Thanks, Eleazar,” I say. “That means a lot, really.”

“Eleazar, we also called to get some information about Beth,” Rosalie says quickly, not wanting to forget the second purpose of our call.

Eleazar immediately sits straighter. “What sort of information?”

“I can’t detect Rosalie’s beauty—not off the charts, anyway,” I say, quietly. “Could it just be because her beauty affects humans, or...?”

Eleazar shakes his head, a smile coming to his face. “I think you may be able to block other abilities as you see fit,” he replies. “It could be related to the shield, but I think it is an advanced form of your shield. Not every vampire has it, as in Bella’s case, although she could easily have it and never have used it.”

I feel that, for the moment, at least, one question has been answered.

. . .

The next two weeks flew by in a blur, where—orchestrated by Alice—I was able to get everything ready on time. Two nights before the wedding, Richard and I said goodbye while Edward, Carlisle, Emmett, and Jasper drove up north to Denali, where Eleazar and Garrett would join them for a bachelor party, mainly involving hunting in their massive woods. Tanya, Kate, and Carmen were driving down themselves to join me, Bella, Alice, Rosalie, and Esme for a bachelorette party, while an old human friend of Esme’s was going to be looking in on Sarah and the boys for the night.

The female Denali’s arrived about an hour after the boys had gone and I was quickly put into Esme’s new van, blindfolded, and taken off into the late afternoon. I’d briefly met Esme’s human friend, Karen Newton, who co-owned Olympic Outfitters, where Bella had worked as a senior in high school. She seemed kind enough and, with Mike Newton as her son, I knew she had plenty of childcare experience. As we pulled out of the driveway, I found I could sense that we were on the freeway, and knew instinctively that we would be driving though Tacoma and would, ultimately, arrive in Seattle.

“Too bad we can’t drink,” I joked.

“There will be drinking involved,” Alice said quickly, and Bella nudged into my shoulder while Esme, on my other side, put an arm around me. “No more hints. Quiet back there,” she ordered, and Kate leaned forward from her position in the back seat, where she was in between Tanya and Carmen.

“You know, I could shock her into telling you,” Kate said softly, and I could hear the electrodes in her hands threatening to erupt.

“I could see you coming,” Alice said in a sing-song voice from the driver’s seat.

“No shocking,” Esme said firmly, and the subject was dropped.

We made small talk for the rest of the drive, and I sensed that, at some point, we left the freeway, and I guessed we were in Downtown Seattle. My blindfold was pulled off just as Alice slowed down the car, and a valet was waiting to take it into, I assumed, the parking garage below. I got out of the car with everyone else, and noticed that we were at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel, one of the nicest hotels in Downtown Seattle. Alice went up to the concierge desk and gave our names, and plenty of room keys were handed out. I was told my suite was at the top floor and was called The Olympic Suite; it featured a king bed and a sofa bed, just to look normal. The Denali’s would occupy the second bedroom, and Alice suddenly revealed a suitcase from where I don’t know.

We all trooped towards the elevators and headed to the top floor, the elevator acting quickly and efficiently as it had come. We stepped into the beautiful hallway, making our way to our rooms at a leisurely pace, for cameras were everywhere and it would look odd sprinting from point A to point B. Alice unlocked our half of the room and the Denali’s did so their half, and I felt my jaw nearly drop at the beauty of our suite.

I was then pulled into the bathroom by Alice, now holding a few things, and Rosalie soon followed us while Bella and Esme chuckled at Alice’s enthusiasm. I very nearly shouted at Alice as she tore off my simple jeans and blouse, and ordered me to get out of my sneakers and socks. She tutted at my sports bra and unmatching underwear, and pushed me into the rather large shower. She handed me some French-looking shampoo and conditioner, along with a very pretty bar of soap, all of which smelled like roses. Peeking through the steam, I saw Rosalie setting up hair care products—a curling iron, a straightener, some expensive-looking lotions—while Alice set out a Hollywood make-up artists’ dream on the opposite side of the bathroom vanity.

Pursing my lips, I ignored Alice’s complaining that I was taking too long and leaned back into the hot water. My hair quickly became wet with the stuff and I got a good-sized amount of shampoo in my hand, massaging my scalp and savoring the fact that my fingers were easily up to the task. I then did the same with my conditioner, and gave my body the same treatment with the delicious-smelling soap. Once I’d finished, I turned off the water and Alice came at me with one of those giant white towels that you see in every film involving a swanky hotel. She quickly wrapped me in it, getting my body dry rather quickly before pulling out a pink satin robe and ordered me to sit before the vanity in its plush seat, although standing wouldn’t have been a problem either.

Rosalie made quick work of drying my hair, so as it cascaded in raven tresses all the way down my back. She then rubbed a few products into it, waiting to see what Alice did with my makeup before deciding to straighten it or curl it. She ultimately decided to straighten it, as I’d asked her to give me giant curls for my wedding, for that was what Richard liked. I remembered our time in Aspen—a moment he said would not happen again until after we’d gotten married—and how he’d tangled his fingers into my curls.

Once my hair and makeup had been completed, Alice produced a skin-tight black dress which would accentuate my curves. Its sleeves would ultimately be tied around my neck, and it had a slit to expose my breasts. This time, my jaw _did_ fall open, especially when Alice and Rosalie helped me step into it. The black platform heels, unexpectedly, did not cause me to almost fall and twist my ankle, and I could walk around carefully. I watched as Alice and Rosalie quickly readied themselves, and then we all trooped out into the main room, where Bella and Esme were waiting. They complimented Alice and Rosalie in turn before turning to me, and Bella nodded in approval.

“You look great,” she said with a smile.

Esme leaned in and embraced me carefully. “Beautiful,” she proclaimed as Alice looped a black clutch purse over my arm.

We were soon joined by Tanya, Kate, and Carmen, and we all went downstairs and walked through the lobby. Everyone there watched us like we were some famous celebrities/ supermodels on the freaking runway as we all stepped out of the lobby and outside. The sun hadn’t set yet, and it was a warm evening, and I wouldn’t have minded a short walk, but Alice had other ideas. Waving us all over, I saw a black stretch limo waiting for us, and the driver’s eyes popped when he got a good look at all of us. We each flashed him smiles as we got into the swanky car, and Alice gave him an address, and the man nodded in approval, and Alice whispered to me that he was an associate of J. Jenks, so I knew he would be discreet about everything that went on tonight.

We arrived at what appeared to be a hit club, which was called Karaoke Bar Northwest and Alice told me that it was an exclusive club that had massive back party rooms. She’d booked it three weeks ago, with Bella’s full approval, and we all trooped out of the limo and into the club. Alice gave our party name to the hostess, who too goggled at all of us before having an attendant show us to our room, called The Bridal Suite, which I assumed was for bachelorette parties. Heading inside, we politely refused any drinks, and Alice immediately dove for the song book to pick something, but was quickly admonished by someone.

“Alice,” Bella scolded, “it’s _Beth’s_ bachelorette party. Let her pick first.”

“Don’t be a bad sport, Alice,” Rosalie put in.

“Let the bride go first, please, Alice,” Esme put in.

“Don’t make me shock you,” Kate said.

“Kate!” Tanya admonished.

“You’re making everyone uncomfortable,” Carmen put in, her Spanish accent lovely. “I want to have a good time.”

Alice purses her lips, but nevertheless hands over the songbook. “Here,” she says, almost as if it doesn’t really matter to her.

I select a song at random from the year before, but don’t tell anyone what I’ll be singing before handing the book back to Alice, who makes her choice quickly. Alice then hands the book around, and even Bella picks a song. Once our songs are put in, the beat of my song begins, and I climb up onto the stage in our room, taking the microphone into my hands, feeling the beat and wondering if, as a vampire, I can still sing...

“I wouldn’t wanna be anybody else,” I say. “You made me insecure, told me I wasn’t good enough. But who are you to judge, when you’re a diamond in the rough?” I say, and find myself shutting my eyes and becoming one with the words of Selena Gomez, utterly enjoying the music flowing through me and know full well that, deep down, my chorus of bells for a speaking voice has helped my singing voice considerably. “Who says, who says you’re not perfect? Who says you’re not worth it? Who says you’re the only one that’s hurtin’? Trust me, that’s the price of beauty. Who says you’re not pretty? Who says you’re not beautiful? Who says?”

I place the microphone down and flash a smile to everyone there, and my jaw drops when they all give me a standing ovation. Alice goes up next, singing some bubblegum pop, and then it is Bella’s turn, who sings some old-timey jazz tune I don’t know. Esme is next, and sings _Fever _by Peggy Lee, and I feel relief when one of them finally sings something that I know. Rosalie goes fourth, and sings something by Madonna—I think it’s called _Material Girl_—followed by Tanya and Kate, who sing _Me Against the Music_. Lastly, Carmen steps up to the mic and sings _Turning Tables _by Adele.

We go a couple more rounds of karaoke before at around nine-thirty, Alice snaps her fingers and declares that we have places to be. I figured that three hours of karaoke should be enough and we slipped out of the club after paying and returned to the limo. We drive along Fifteenth Avenue, driving by the Olympic Sculpture Park and, quite soon, we get to an area called Interbay, where we continue north. We then make a left, and Alice puts up the security window, reaching into a duffel bag under her seat and tossing yoga pants, sneakers, tank tops, and sweaters to everyone in the car. The other vampires showed no shame in changing in front of each other, and I quickly moved to do the same. Alice then handed over sanitation wipes to get the makeup off our faces and handed over hair ties to everyone else; due to her time in an insane asylum, Alice’s head had been shaved, so she was forever plagued with short hair.

The associate of J. Jenks pulled over soon thereafter, and we all got out of the car. I saw a sign that said Discovery Park, and I raised my eyebrows. I knew about this park; it was a never-ending thicket where, if you were lucky, there would be large animals to hunt. I felt my throat burning ever so slightly when Alice confided that she’d seen black bears and mountain lions in the area that night. She further explained that they were due to be shipped out to the Cascade Mountains by six the following morning but, if we hurried, we could do the job for the officials. None of us needed telling twice, and Alice partnered us up and I was pleased to be with Bella, and I flashed my sister a smile. Esme would be with Carmen, Tanya with Kate, and Alice with Rosalie.

“Go!” Alice whispered, and we all took off into the woods.

Hunting in the dead of night wasn’t exactly a new experience for it; it was in unfamiliar terrain, however. Bella and I synchronized our pace, hurtling over massive boulders and dips in the path. We then saw an even bigger boulder and, without even saying it, got on top of us together, putting our faces skyward, to properly smell our kill. I caught a whiff of a couple of bears and I saw Bella caught it, too. We were off the boulder in less than a fraction of a second, slipping in and out from in between the trees and hurtling towards the wonderful scent of a massive mammal.

“Left!” Bella hissed, and I moved to the left as she moved right. “Now!” she said, and we dove into the center of the thicket, grabbing ahold of something soft and warm which matched the darkness.

I let out a roar of happiness as the bear bellowed beneath me, and I locked my legs around its neck and swung myself downward. Before the bear could shout ‘uncle!’ I hoisted myself up and drove my teeth into its neck. I drank deeply, savoring the gamey taste of the animal, and knew then by the Cullen men seemed to favor this particular mammal. Once the animal was drained, I unhooked my grip upon it and got to my feet, Bella nodding in approval at my kill.

She stuck her head in the air then, and whispered, “Mountain lions—two of them. To the north!” she said, and I took off after her.

. . .

Had I been human, I would have been exhausted upon our return to Forks. However, the car ride helped me work on my strength—and my breathing. The wedding was only in a few hours, and I knew that Alice was under the belief that we had plenty of work to do. She and Bella had drawn up the back yard as to how it would look, and everyone but Richard had been ordered to pitch in and create the wedding venue. Once we arrived, it was nearly nine in the morning, and we had seven hours left. Alice, of course, freaked out and grabbed me from the car, hauling me upstairs and into the house. Esme thanked Karen Newton and paid her, while Karen wished me luck and returned home.

“Eleazar is picking up Mr. Weber to perform the ceremony,” Alice tells Rosalie, who has come upstairs with us. “Esme is going to accept the flower delivery. Edward and Bella should be going over their speeches...”

“Alice, calm down,” Rosalie says. “It’s fine. This’ll be pulled off, no problem.”

Alice sighs. “I know. I just can’t believe you’re getting married,” she says, turning to me and throwing her arms around me. “Our last sister to get married.”

I sigh, putting my arms around her. “I’m going to be fine, Alice. We’re all going to be fine. It’s going to be a beautiful day.”

I’m ordered into a luxurious bubble bath, and Alice wets my hair and washes it herself. I must admit that, despite my normally private nature, Alice’s sure hands on my scalp is just the ticket to relax me completely. I loll my head back in the water, just as Rosalie steps into the bathroom and expertly cuts my fingernails and toenails. She tells me that she and Alice have picked the perfect color and will paint my nails as such as soon as it’s been deemed appropriate to do so. I am permitted a few more minutes of soaking time until Alice fetches me a large, fluffy towel and gets me out of there.

“Five hours left and counting,” Alice tells me, and I realize that, as a vampire, time goes by much faster. She takes me by the hand and pulls me to the edge of the bathroom, where she finishes drying me off and Rosalie steps up, providing me with my satin robe and slippers. I smile, grateful for the minor spoiling, as Bella steps into her bedroom.

“Edward just texted me,” she tells us. “They’re going to hunt for another hour or so and then they should be back an hour or two before the ceremony.”

“Men,” Alice says, shaking her head.

“Always late,” Rosalie sighs.

“I could do her nails if you want,” Bella says.

Alice nods. “Remember how to do the flower pattern?” she asks.

Bella smiles. “What do you take me for? Of course I remember it.”

Pretty soon, Alice is working on my makeup, Rosalie is doing my hair, and Bella is painting my nails. I find myself wondering if Alice is going to do the same kind of makeup as she did last night. I ask her if she is, and I’m rewarded with a glittering laugh.

“That was _club_ makeup, Beth,” Alice says. “Wedding makeup is far different.”

I nod, pretending to understand as Bella is told by Alice to rub special cream on my feet and legs so as the skin will remain smooth. Once my hair, nails, and makeup is done, Alice says that we have two more hours until the wedding, and I never realized how long these things could take. I get to my feet and zoom to my bedroom, which will be remodeled during our honeymoon and while we’re in England. The wall will be knocked down and a larger bed will be added to the room, while the wall will be rebuilt, with a circular door instead of the rectangular-shaped one, and it will be a work area for _both_ me and Richard for whatever projects we want. I go and stand briefly by the window, looking out at the beautiful backyard where, in just a hundred and seventeen minutes, Richard and I will promise to love one another for as long as we both shall live.

Emmett and Jasper are just arriving then in the car to oversee the work, and they both tell the workers that they’re doing a good job. Jasper lifts his head to the window where I stand, and I flash him a small smile, and he returns the smile, nodding. Emmett watches Jasper’s eyes and looks up, finding me as well, and moves his hands up and down in a wave-like motion, indicating that he thinks I look good in my robe.

I give him a rather condescending look. “I’m your sister, you weasel,” I call out, and Emmett hears me perfectly, along with Jasper, who laughs and shoves Emmett into the kitchen door, as I know Alice will want them to change quickly. As groomsmen, they must be ready to stand beside Edward, the Best Man.

The pink roses accentuate perfectly to the surrounding green, and I find myself lost in how lovely pink and green go together. I am so lost that I do not know that an hour has passed and I hear a set of heels behind me. Instinctively, I turn, and see Sarah standing in the doorway, and smile down at her.

“Hello, darling,” I say, stepping closer and lifting her effortlessly in my arms, careful not to wrinkle her dress. “You look very pretty today.”

Sarah grins. “Thank you. Aunt Alice says that you have to look pretty, too. She said it was a rule of the wedding.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Is that right?” I ask, looking at the clock and seeing that everything should be starting soon. “Well, why don’t you go and find Carlisle? Tell him that I’m almost ready. Oh, and find Alice and Rosalie, too. I need their help.”

Sarah smiles and kisses my cheek carefully—Alice must’ve told her that I was wearing makeup—and slips effortlessly from my arms and darts out of the room. I turn and look over the room, wondering what wonderful things that Esme will do to it when Richard and I are away. I turn then as Alice and Rosalie enter, decked out in their new Bridesmaids dresses, and I find myself smiling, even though the pair of them look far prettier than I ever will. I say nothing on the subject, however, and strip out of the robe as the pair of them fetch my new underwear set. I am promptly put into it, and then the dress, followed by the heels and cross my fingers that I would kill myself wearing them.

Just as Rosalie is fixing my veil and tiara, I motion to Alice to fetch the little box upon my dresser. “My necklace is in there,” I tell her. “It’s my something old.”

Alice smiles, grateful for some sort of tradition, and opens the box. She gasps briefly before taking it out and clasps it to my neck.

“Not something borrowed?” Rosalie asks, a little disappointed.

“No, my garter was something borrowed,” Alice says quickly.

Rosalie sighs, quickly dropping it and removing a sapphire ring from her finger, which she puts onto my opposite hand. “Something blue,” she says with a smile.

“My dress is something new, I guess,” I say, and let out a laugh, which Alice and Rosalie join in, as Bella and Carlisle appear in the doorway.

Carlisle beams when he sees me, stepping forward and taking my hands as Alice runs off to get my bouquet, and as Rosalie goes to get into position with Emmett. “You look beautiful, Beth,” Carlisle says, embracing me and kissing me on the cheek. “Never have I seen a lovelier bride than you.”

I smile. “Thank you, Carlisle,” I reply as Alice comes in with my bouquet of red roses and baby’s breath. “Are we ready?”

“Yes,” Alice confirms. “Rosalie is waiting to walk out with Emmett, and Jasper’s waiting to walk out with me. Then Bella and Edward, and then Carlisle walks out with you. Alex and Katherine are walking out with Esme,” Alice says.

“And then Katherine and Alex walk back down the aisle solo after the ceremony,” Bella continues, “and Carlisle will walk out with Esme.”

“Some form of uniformity, then,” I say, just as the song that I requested begins to play. It was from the 2005 _Pride and Prejudice _film, and it was called _Your Hands Are Cold_. Bella and Alice give me a quick smile, slipping out of the room and heading downstairs, where Edward and Jasper are waiting for them. Carlisle and I walk to the head of the stairs, watching them all walk out together, and then, it is our turn. We seem to glide down the stairs, and it is then that I feel the nerves overtaking me.

“Carlisle?”

“Yes?”

I smile and look up at him, feeling utterly secure and happy on his arm. “You’re amazing,” I tell him. “Thank you for everything.”

He leans in and kisses my cheek again. “I want you to have a wonderful life with Richard. I was so pleased that you asked to go to Isle Esme for your honeymoon. It means so much that I can provide a wonderful environment for your vacation.”

I smile at him again. “Thank you, Dad,” I say, not knowing if I’ll ever call him that again but, knowing in that moment, him walking me down the aisle, he is my father. I look ahead, seeing that Edward and Bella have finished their walk, and Carlisle tightens his grip upon my hand as we step forward. We walk around the corner, and it is for the first time that I see all the guests; I grin at Theo and Chadwick, still together, and several other guests—who were mainly friends of Carlisle’s and Esme’s—dotted the place. I smiled at Alice and Rosalie, standing opposite Jasper and Emmett, and then at Bella and Edward, who would stand on either side of me and Richard. Then, I permitted myself to raise my eyes to my Richard, and I found myself smiling even broader than before.

We reach the alter, and Carlisle draws my veil back and kisses my cheek before I step forward, and am delighted when he interlocks my hands with Richard’s before going to sit in the front left row with Esme. I turn my eyes to Richard’s, and he beams down at me, and I feel utterly content under his gaze. Mr. Weber smiles at the two of us, and I barely feel my throat burning in his, or Theo’s and Chadwick’s, presence. I vaguely hear Mr. Weber’s words about finding love, and how wonderful it is that Richard and I have done so at such a young age. All I can see is Richard before me, that is, until our turns to speak comes.

“I, Richard Kingsley, take you, Elizabeth Cullen, to be my lawfully wedded husband,” he says, gripping my hands tighter. “To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, as long as we both shall live,” he says, slipping the platinum band we’d picked out together onto my finger.

When it is my turn, I know I must speak a bit louder, so as the few humans in attendance can hear me. “I, Elizabeth Cullen, take you, Richard Kingsley, to be my lawfully wedded husband. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, as long as we both shall live,” I say, putting his platinum ring onto the third finger of his left hand. “I love you,” I say to him, softly.

“I love you,” he replies.

“By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. It is my pleasure to present Mr. and Mrs. Cullen,” he says, all a-twitter, and I wonder if he’d ever officiated a wedding ceremony where the groom took the brides’ name. “You may kiss the bride, Mr. Cullen,” he says, addressing Richard.

Richard takes my cheeks delicately in his hands and leans down and kisses me. It is his small chuckle into my mouth when I throw my arms around him which sends me over the edge, and I cannot believe it. I am now Mrs. Cullen, Richard’s wife, and I could not be a happier vampire for anything. Finally, we are forced to break apart and Richard puts his lips at my ear.

“One reception, one drive, one flight, one boat, and then we’re on our honeymoon. I can’t wait to see what ridiculously expensive lingerie Alice made you buy,” he whispers before taking my arm and walking down the aisle with me and smiling at everyone in turn. We walk to the other part of the backyard, where Alice has organized tables, the catering, and a stage with a microphone for Edward and Bella to give their speeches, as well as everyone else’s in the wedding party, and whoever may want to.

Bella climbs the stage first as Maid of Honor, and smiles at all the guests. “When I married into the Cullen family, we thought it was complete. When Carlisle and Esme first brought Beth home, I didn’t even know if I wanted another sister. But, from the moment she came into our lives, I knew that we were meant to be sisters. I was an only child growing up, so when I married Edward, all I knew was that I’d have siblings. Never did I know that I would gain more. And once Richard came into the picture, I knew that Beth thought there was something special about him. So, here’s to the happy couple—my sister and my new brother—may your union last forever!”

Edward went up to the stage next, briefly kissing Bella before taking his spot behind the microphone. “When Richard asked me to be his Best Man, I thought, ‘Why not?’ because when Emmett and Rosalie got married, Emmett asked Jasper, so I figured it was my time to shine,” he says, and the crowd laughed. “Soon, I realized that the only reason that Emmett asked Jasper in the first place was that Jasper had all the patience for all the things you had to do—plan the bachelor party, write a speech for the toast, stand there smiling like an idiot when the bride and groom get married...” He continues, much to the crowd’s delight. “I knew that, however, Richard and Beth were something special. As my little sister, Beth knew that I was the best candidate for Best Man, as that would mean I would spend a lot of time with Richard—check him out, you know. I wanted to make sure that he was the one for Beth, and he continues to exceed my expectations. Here’s to you, my little sister and my new brother—forever is a long time, and I know you can make it.”

Alice, Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper made some speeches, along with the Denali’s and Theo and Chadwick. What was most touching of all, however, was when Carlisle and Esme took the stage together, publicly proclaiming their love for me as their youngest child, and how much they adored having another son in the house. Finally, Richard and I took the stage and had Rosalie and Emmett hold the twins while Edward and Bella came onstage with Sarah between them. Alice and Jasper came up, too, and Carlisle and Esme didn’t leave the stage for our announcement.

I bent down then, so as I was eye-level with Sarah, as she was the only one who would really understand all of this. “Sarah, sweetheart, the paperwork went through yesterday morning. Richard and I have adopted you, Lucas, and Francis—you are all officially Cullen’s now,” I told her.

Sarah gasped then, and lifted her arms to be picked up, which I did. She put her arms around my neck and said softly, “Thank you, Mama,” much to the enjoyment of the crowd around us.

Thankfully, after the werewolves and Theo and Chadwick had eaten, things began dying down for the day. Richard put a hand on my arm and took me aside, and I was quite shocked to see Embry standing a little off in the distance. Shocked, I began walking towards him, and Richard went off back to the wedding party, telling me that he was going to dance with Tanya. I walked towards Embry then, feeling utterly ridiculous at just standing there in my wedding dress, but he smiled.

“You look beautiful,” he said.

I smile at him. “Thank you,” I reply, “and I’m sorry.”

He shakes his head. “I’ll be okay—promise.”

I accept his offered hand, and we slowly dance. “Where have you been?”

“Jacob ran off to Northern Canada before Bella and Edward got married,” he replies softly to me. “That’s where I went.”

Instantly, I feel the guilt wash over me at Embry’s devastation; I found I couldn’t help but love him, but there I was, married to someone else. Pulling back, I stood on my toes and just managed to brush my lips to his cheek. “I’m sorry,” I said again. “I’m sorry I can’t love you—really. I’m sorry.”

He smiles and shakes his head. “Don’t worry about it.” He looks past me, in the direction of the wedding party. “You married a good man there, Beth. Don’t let him go—he’s yours forever now.”

I nod. “Forever,” I reply.

“Mama!” cries a familiar voice and, turning, I see Sarah. “Mama, Daddy says that you’re leaving soon!”

I smile and turn back to Embry. “I should go,” I say, and that’s when I get a good look at his face. “Hey, you okay?” I ask him; he looks like he’s in a trance. “Embry?”

But he doesn’t take his eyes off Sarah. “Hi,” he says.

Sarah brightens, instantly the center of attention. “Hi!” she says.

“You’re Sarah, aren’t you?” Embry asks.

Sarah nods. “Yeah. And you’re Em-bry,” she says.

At once, I turn back and look at Embry, and sense that thunder is coming. “Sarah, go and tell Daddy that I’ll be there soon, okay?”

“Okay!” Sarah says brightly and scurries off.

Embry looks visibly sad at Sarah’s departure. “No,” he says, softly, looking around me, as he watches her go.

“Embry, what the hell?!” I demand then, and I find that I’m shaking, tempted to throw him against a tree again. “What are you thinking, you mutt?! She’s a toddler!”

“Beth, just hear me out... It’s not like it’s my choice...”

“Choice? Choice?!” I demand, understanding just what he’s talking about. “How could you imprint on my daughter?! You were crazy about me five seconds ago...”

“Beth, try to understand, you’re...”

“Not young enough for you?!” I spit at him.

“No. You’re married.”

“But she’s a _toddler_!” I scream at him, and, suddenly, Richard, Bella, and Edward zoom behind me.

“Walk away,” Edward says, narrowing his eyes at Embry.

“You know I can’t do that,” Embry replies.

“What happened?” Richard demands.

“Embry imprinted on Sarah,” Bella whispers, almost as if she can’t fully believe that statement herself.

“Stay away from Sarah,” I say immediately.

“I can’t,” Embry replies. “You know I can’t.”

I feel that I am shaking again. “I _just_ adopted her, and now you want to take her...”

“No,” Embry says firmly. “I won’t, I promise.”

“He’ll just be around every waking moment,” Edward replies.

I shake my head. “No,” I say firmly. “You can’t.”

“Beth...”

“No!” I say, grabbing ahold of Embry and throwing him off, but he manages to miss the tree I’d been aiming for. “Go away, you filthy dog!”

“Beth, you don’t get it,” Embry replies. “I won’t be doing...” He shakes his head. “I just want Sarah to be safe and happy, and to be a friend and big brother to her. She won’t start having romantic feelings for me until high school...”

I shake my head. “I don’t like it.”

“You don’t have to like it,” Embry replies. “But it’s going to happen.”

I shake my head and turn away from him, and feel relief when Richard starts walking into step beside me, as Edward and Bella give Embry the do’s and don’ts of imprinting vs. your new relationship with the mother and father of your imprintee. “Let’s get this show on the road,” I tell him.

Richard loops his hand in mine. “Sorry,” he replies.

I lean my head momentarily on his shoulder. “Hey, who said life was perfect?” I ask, kissing him on the cheek. “I’m fully prepared to spend an imperfect eternity with you.”

Richard stops walking, lifting me into the air and kissing my lips. “Sounds good to me,” he replies, as we walk towards the house to get changed.


	11. The Honeymoon

I am whisked upstairs immediately by Bella, Alice, Rosalie, and Esme, and Alice shows me my new luggage, engraved with my initials—E.V.C.—and I am promptly relieved of my wedding dress and put into comfortable traveling clothes. Now, comfort and Alice don’t mix, but Bella managed to persuade Alice, somewhat, on my wardrobe to make it more travel appropriate. I was put into a simple cotton dress and flats, along with a simple sweater to top it all off. My engagement ring was kept on its original finger, while my wedding ring was put onto a platinum chain around my neck.

Before anything else, I slip from the room as Alice and Rosalie complete my final packing preparations and make my way down the hall to Sarah’s bedroom. Opening the door, I see her brushing out her hair before she goes to sleep, her long nightgown new, and yet another gift from Alice. I stand in the doorway, waiting for her to notice me and, when she does, her eyes light up.

“Mama!” she cries out, dashing forward, her brown hair flying, and holding out her arms. “I missed you!”

I smile and scoop her up, kissing her on the cheek. “Thank you, sweetheart. I missed you, too, really.”

She nods, putting her face against my neck. “Aunt Rosalie said that you and Daddy were going far away...”

“Yes, pet, we are,” I reply. “But it’s just for a little while.”

Sarah pulls back to look at me before hopping out of my arms. “How long?”

“Two weeks.”

“Where are you going?”

I give her a smile and turn to look at the massive antique globe she has in her bedroom, a gift from Carlisle. “Come over here, sweetheart, and I’ll show you.”

Compliant, Sarah takes ahold of my hand and I gently pull her towards the globe. “Far away?” she asks, looking at it.

I smile. “A bit, yes.” I point to the United States on the globe. “See, here?” I ask, pointing to the left side. “Right up here,” I say, pointing to the top of it, “this is where we are—we’re so far north that we’re almost in Canada—that’s here.” I point to Canada.

“Where are you and Daddy going?” she persists.

“This is South America,” I say, pointing to the continent below North America. “See where it says Rio de Janeiro?”

Sarah peers closer. “Yes.”

“Well, all around it is a big body of water—the South Atlantic Ocean, and Daddy and I are going to stay in a beautiful house on an island.”

“What’s an island?” Sarah asks.

“A small piece of land surrounded by water.”

“How small?”

“Well, smaller than this,” I say, pointing to North America again. “See this right here?” I ask her, pointing to Hawaii.

“Yes.”

“_Those_ are islands,” I tell her. “There used to be royalty there.”

“Royalty?”

“Kings and queens,” I reply. “Why don’t you tell Aunt Rosalie to tell you all about them for a bedtime story?”

Sarah grins. “Okay, Mama!” She sighs a little. “Do you have to go now?”

I nod. “Soon, yes.”

She nods. “Okay, Mama.” She throws her arms around me. “I love you.”

“I love you, too, sweetheart. Be good.”

“Promise,” she replies.

After I say a quick goodbye to the twins, I return to Alice’s room, where Emmett and Jasper show up to bring my luggage to the getaway car, and Edward and Carlisle showed up behind them. After Emmett and Jasper hugged me, they trooped off to put the luggage downstairs while I turned to Edward and Carlisle. I flashed them both a smile, waiting for what would come next.

Carlisle hands me a key. “I gave the other one to Richard,” he tells me. “This is to the house on Isle Esme. I know you’ll have a wonderful time.”

I grip the key briefly before Alice takes it and slips it into my carry-on bag. I step up to Carlisle and throw my arms around him, knowing that I will miss him terribly. “I love you, Carlisle, thank you,” I say softly to him. Letting him go, I next turn to Esme, and she and I embrace readily. “I love you, too,” I say quietly to her, before breaking away and turning to Rosalie. “Take care of my daughter and my boys,” I say to her, standing on my toes to more easily embrace her.

“As if they were my own,” she replies.

I next turn to Alice, and quickly we fall into each other’s arms. “Thank you for being such a fashionable sister,” I whisper.

She laughs. “Always,” she replies.

Breaking away from Alice, I next turn to Edward, and he quickly lifts me up and spins me around. “I know you’ll have a great honeymoon,” he says. “Maybe work on taking your shield down a little more...”

“Thanks for the tip,” I say, stepping away from him and turning, at last, to Bella. “Thank you for being the best friend and sister a girl could ask for,” I tell her.

Bella smiles and throws her arms around me. “Forever,” she replies. Pulling back, she walks me downstairs, with the rest of them following, and we walk out the door together. Richard is standing amongst the crowd of well-wishers, and I can spot Alex and Katherine standing next to him, waiting to say goodbye.

I cross my fingers, hoping that Katherine wasn’t upset at not being chosen for a Bridesmaid and quickly look at Edward, who shakes his head. I approach them and hold them briefly before they lead me away from the crowd for a moment. Perplexed, I ask, “Hey, is everything okay?”

Alex nods. “Fine.”

“Couldn’t be better,” Katherine replies. “We actually have some news.”

“Yeah?” I ask.

Alex smiles. “I’ve asked Katherine to marry me, and she’s accepted,” he replies.

I clap my hands. “That’s amazing!”

“We also really need to tell you that the two of us are starting at the University of Alaska next fall,” Katherine tells me.

I raise my eyebrows. “Really?”

Alex nods. “Yes. We’ve gotten to know the Denali’s over the last few days and we’ve decided to become Denali’s ourselves.”

“What are you saying?” I ask.

“We’re saying that we’re joining their coven,” Katherine says patiently. “We’re moving to Alaska after we elope in Vegas—the Denali’s are coming to witness,” she says proudly. “I absolutely cannot wait to become Katherine Denali.”

I smile. “Well, I am very happy for the both of you,” I say, and embrace them both. I keep talking to them for a moment before excusing myself to stand with Edward as Jasper and Emmett pull our car up. I embrace Richard and we kiss for all to see until Emmett and Jasper get out of the car. They give Richard a half-hug before they each hug me one more time and I wave to all my guests, blowing a kiss to Theo and Chadwick, who would both be starting at New York University in the fall.

We drive off from the house and into the night; I know it is around a three-and-a-half-hour drive from Forks to the SeaTac Airport, but Richard would make it there in an hour or so. As we drive along the highway, I find myself at peace, and feel a jolt of electricity when Richard puts a hand on my leg. All our luggage is securely put inside the trunk, and I know that we have plenty of clothes to go around, and, even though we have a sixteen-and-a-half-hour flight, I am crossing my fingers that they will have interesting films and that they won’t be suspicious if we don’t eat. Personally, I think Richard slightly impairing their memory will come in handy in this situation.

We make it to the airport in one piece, arriving less than two hours before our red-eye flight to Rio de Janeiro. We park Richard’s car in a parking garage, and he puts his pre-paid ticket for two weeks on the dashboard so that nobody will disturb the vehicle. He grabs a cart for all our luggage and pushes it through the airport effortlessly, and I must admit I enjoy it when people stop to stare at us. We check our bags and head to the premium security line, which goes must faster than we anticipated—the guards almost seemed as if they didn’t want to cross us. Once through the scrutiny line, we head to the first-class lounge to wait, and just spend our time looking out the window, or on our laptops, or having our noses in random books.

Richard keeps track of time and, sooner than expected, we are being called for our flight. It isn’t too terribly difficult to find our gate and we are permitted to board immediately. I find I enjoy my plush window seat—it was one of the few things I’d asked for—and we decline the dinner and the champagne. I admit that I loved testing my strength around these humans, despite only being a year old, and found that I was perfectly at ease with them. In that moment, I vowed never to taste human blood; yes, I may feel the urge to kill again if I was wronged somehow, but I would never allow the blood of a human to knowingly pass through my lips.

We take off shortly thereafter, and I find myself leaning back against the seat as we go airborne, and I shut my eyes, despite the knowledge that sleep will never come again. I feel Richard’s hand in mine, and feel peace at last as the pilot informs us where we are a few hours later. Finally, after four movies or so, Richard and I are relieved to see that we are preparing to land. The plan was to collect our luggage from baggage claim, and then get into the car that Carlisle and Esme had booked for the two of us. It would take us to the marina and drop us off, whereupon we would get onto the family boat, which Richard would use to take us to the island.

We landed in one piece and collected our carry-on bags before being permitted to disembark the plane. We found baggage claim without much issue and soon managed to leave the area. We soon found our driver, his sign reading MR. AND MRS. CULLEN, and we followed him to his vehicle, a very nice town car, sleek and black. It was a lovely afternoon in Brazil, and the driver made a few comments and asked us some questions, but we mainly told him we were from Forks, Washington and we were there for our honeymoon. He looked a little taken aback, because we were forever frozen looking seventeen and nineteen, but didn’t question us further about it.

He dropped us off at the marina, and Richard gave him a generous tip to help us bring our luggage to the small boat. Once our things were loaded, the man wished us a good honeymoon before leaving, presumably to drive his next customer. Richard fired up the boat as the sun began to set, and I knew we would reach the island by nightfall. I was very impressed when my husband got the GPS system to work and we chartered our course for Isle Esme, and I crossed my fingers that the journey would go smoothly.

Soon, we arrive on the island, and Richard docks the boat close by the front door. It only takes two trips to get our luggage into the house and I am perplexed when Richard then suggests a late-night swim. I cock an eyebrow.

“What a suggestion,” I say, wrapping my arms around him. “Are you taking a page from someone’s seduction handbook?”

He laughs. “Yes. Edward’s.”

“Edward’s?” I ask.

Richard smiles, putting his forehead against mine. “He suggested it.”

“Did he?” I ask.

“He did. He thinks it’s relaxing after such a long trip.”

I nod. “Okay, then.” I drive into one of his bags at random and produce a pair of swim trunks for him. “I’ll go get on one of the ridiculously expensive bikinis that Alice bought for me and I’ll meet you outside shortly.”

Richard grins at me. “Done,” he says, kissing me and running outside, throwing his shirt onto a pile of sand and kicking off his shoes in one go.

Shaking my head, I delve into my own suitcase, finding a hot pink and white lace bikini top and bottom, and hope that Richard will like it. Feeling modest all of a sudden, I dash into the bathroom, gripping the bikini and my bag of toiletries. I shut and lock the door before I take off my traveling clothes and quickly rinse off in the shower. Then I dry off and slip the bikini on, not feeling sexy in the least. I take the pins out of my hair and it falls like a black curtain down my back, and I quickly move to ease a brush through it. Once I think that I’ve done all I can do, I grab a towel and wrap it around myself, and fetch a second one for my runner husband.

I slip out of the bathroom and walk out the French doors to the bedroom, which open right on the beach. The sand is cool and soft against my feet as I walk down the beach, seeing Richard already submerged in the water. I throw off the towel and leave it with his scattered clothes on a log, and make my way to the edge of the water. Dipping my painted toe into it, I find its temperature is to my liking as I make my way towards him. The moon is full on that late August night, and I gently touch his back, and my husband reaches out and puts an arm around me.

“Do you like it?” I ask him.

“The moon?”

“Yes.”

He smiles. “We’ll see many more full ones, my darling.”

“Many,” I reply.

He turns and looks down at me. “I love you, Elizabeth Vivian Cullen.”

I turn and look up at him. “I love you, Richard Walter Cullen.”

He takes ahold of my waist then, using the light of the moon to look at all the bikini had to offer him. “So beautiful,” he whispers, looking over every inch of me that he was allowed; it was quite delicious when he shuddered with desire.

“Want to go inside?” I asked him.

“Yes,” he whispers, finding my lips underneath the light of the moon. “Now,” he whispers, his teeth gently sinking into my neck.

I cry out in a mixture of pain, desire, and excitement, and let out a squeal when he lifts me up and takes me back onto the beach. He grabs the towels and our clothes, and we quickly dry off at the entrance to the house before he lifts me onto the massive white bed. He gets to his feet and shuts the patio doors and locks them, drawing the curtains and then locks all the doors in the house while I remove the bikini completely and pull up the goose down comforter up to my chin.

When Richard arrives back in the room, he shudders once more, guessing from my bare shoulders that my body is absent of any clothing. He takes off his suit trunks, now dry due to him running around the house, and stands before me, as alabaster as I am. He steps forward, easing the comforter back and gazes down at me.

“Are you ready?” he asks.

I nod up at him, the apprehension beginning to melt away. This was it; this was real. This wouldn’t be hurried about in the darkness of his family home in Aspen; this would be such a wonderful and unforgettable experience. Now, Richard was my husband, as I was his wife, and we belonged to each other. I belonged to him; he belonged to me; nothing would ever change that fact.

“I’m ready,” I reply.

He smiles down at me, at my words, at my face—I knew not what. He climbs onto the bed beside me, and puts his left leg over mine, leaving his right leg on the other side. He reaches down and cups my face in his hands, and traces my lips with his thumb. “I love you—so much,” he breaths.

“I love you, too,” I say softly, and pull him down to me.

My next recollection is still being wrapped inside Richard, and I feel nothing but pure wedded bliss. I turn and look at my husband, and his eyes are shut; had we been human, I would have assumed he was asleep. I bend ever so slightly and brush my lips against his cheek, and he shudders again.

Then, he pushes me down and gets into position.

“Richard!” I cry out, in mock shock. “Again?!”

He smiles, opening his eyes. “Always again,” he replies, and it happens again.

. . .

One of the most amazing things about the honeymoon, other than the obvious, was going to the mainland to hunt. I read before our trip that jaguars lurked in some of the South American jungles and I had a thing for the blood of large cats. Delighted on our fourth day of our vacation was I when Richard and I got dressed and my husband fired up the boat to take us to the mainland. The ocean was clear and beautiful on that early September afternoon, and I enjoyed the heat on my skin. I looked up at Richard, and found him staring at me, and I would’ve given anything to blush from his gaze.

“You’re sparkling,” he tells me.

I laugh. “So are you.”

We follow the instructions that Edward had given us about parking the boat in a not-so-obvious place, and managed to find one pretty secluded location. Climbing up the sandy bank, I immediately caught the scent of some kind of wild cat and found myself letting out an instinctual gasp. Turning to Richard, I saw he smelled it, too, and we took off in between the trees with giant banana leaves. I found some vines a few feet off the forest floor and jumped into the air, grabbing ahold of the vines and pulled myself along them. Richard’s chuckle erupted suddenly from behind me and he jumped, too, leaping almost as quickly as I was along the forests’ canopy.

I caught wind of the jaguar due north and leapt downwards, hurtling towards it. When I crept up on top of a rock, I saw a pair of them lurking around one another, almost as if they were preparing to strike. I dove downwards and Richard did the same, and we attacked our kill effortlessly. Once the roars of the spotted cats had subsided, we got to our feet, and it was then that I raised my eyes and saw two vampires standing directly in front of us. They were quite tall and impressive looking, decorated with animal skins, their hair almost as dark and as wild as the expressions they gave us. Though their eyes were red, I knew we were safe, due to our vampirism.

“Senna and Zafrina?” I ask, stepping forward.

“Yes,” boomed one of them. “I am Zafrina.”

“I am Senna,” the second one said.

“Who are you?” Zafrina asks, looking at our fresh kill and our eyes. “You are either nomads or you’re from Alaska...or Forks.”

“Forks,” Richard replies, and Senna and Zafrina turn and look at him for the first time. “We are from Forks.”

“You are Cullen’s?” Senna asks.

I nod. “Yes. I’m Beth Cullen and this is my husband, Richard Cullen. I was adopted by the Cullen’s over a year ago, and my husband and I are on our honeymoon.”

“How old are you?” Zafrina asks me.

“One year,” I reply. “I was changed when I was seventeen.”

“And you?” Senna asks Richard.

“Sixty-six years,” Richard replies easily. “I was nineteen when I was changed.”

“We were changed long ago,” Zafrina replies; she is about two inches taller than her coven mate, Senna, and stands at six-feet-one.

“You drink human blood?” Richard asks, getting a good look at their eyes.

“Yes,” Senna replies.

“We understand you must hunt,” Zafrina continues, “but do your best not to do so very often—we are quite protective of our animals here.”

“Of course,” I say. “We’re here for two weeks, but we can usually go four days at the most without a hunt.”

Senna nods. “Fine.”

Zafrina grins. “You are staying at Isle Esme?”

Richard nods. “Yes.”

“Give Carlisle our best,” Senna says.

“Please,” Zafrina says, “we’ve known him for a good seventy years.”

“Not a problem,” I reply.

“But first,” Zafrina says, “is it true you are moving to London?”

I nod. “Yes. In just three weeks.”

Zafrina smiles. “Excellent,” she replies, and focuses her crimson eyes upon us.

Richard gasps, and I turn to look at him, and I see his eyes widening. “It’s incredible,” he tells me, his eyes wide. “Big Ben... We’re standing right next to Big Ben!”

I shake my head. “Visual projection?” I ask, turning to Zafrina.

“She can’t see it,” Senna whispers to her.

Zafrina locks her eyes to mine. “You are a shield?” she asks.

I nod. “I’ve been working on taking it down,” I say, and relax my shoulders, allowing myself to take it down. I reach out and take Richard’s hand, and suddenly we’re standing just below Big Ben itself. I feel my eyes widen in wonderment—it is truly a supernatural moment for me. In all these months of being a vampire, I’d never been so impressed; I quickly reminded myself to have Edward call Benjamin to show me everything that he can do. “Oh, my...” I whisper.

Zafrina stops the vision, and we are again standing in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest and the sister share a smile. “Very good,” Zafrina praises me.

“Much like your sister,” Senna puts in.

I smile. “I’ve been told that,” I reply.

Richard and I say goodbye to them and manage to find our way back to our boat. When we are about halfway back, I suddenly spring up into the air again and grab ahold of the vines, peeking at him from behind me. I feel delicious as his laugh ripples through the immediate area, and further when he jumps in the air, following me vine to vine. We reach the boat in good time and I swing inside from a vine, and Richard does the same. He turns the key to work the boat and navigates it accordingly back to Isle Esme; the water is as shimmering blue as before, and it is quite difficult to take my eyes off it.

Richard drives quickly, as the sun is hot and bright and it would take a lot of explaining if anyone saw us. However, I quickly dismissed the thought, since Richard could simply obliterate anyone’s memory from seeing sparkling beings. We arrive back at Isle Esme in good time, hopping off the boat and back onto the sand, which cools my feet in their sandals, which I quickly kick off. I dash inside, Richard taking a more leisurely pace, and make my way to my suitcase, where I know I have yet another piece of expensive lingerie to debut for Richard.

I make a grab for one I’d seen Alice ordering a few weeks ago and take it into the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind me. It normally would resemble a bathing suit—a very sexy bathing suit—to an untrained eye, but once you touched it, the silk betrayed that notion. It had thin spaghetti straps covered with lace, and thin lace which would cover the upper breast and a bit of the stomach. The rest was a thicker black material, which would come to rest, just like a bathing suit would, just on your hips. I also had made a grab for thigh-high pantyhose, which I pulled up my legs now after getting on this ridiculous, yet lovely, piece of lingerie. I found my hair still smelled sweet from my shower that morning and took it out of its tie, shaking it out and running a brush through it just to be sure. I found the expensive shampoo and conditioner Alice and Rosalie had bought for me caused my hair to be fuller, something Richard seemed to love, so I vowed to continue to buy it.

Next, I put on some silvery eyeshadow and thickening mascara, along with just a bit of corresponding blush and flash of red lipstick. I poke my head out of the bathroom door, and spot Richard, sitting upon the edge of the bed, facing the two French doors and watching the sea simply gliding by. His back is bare, and I feel a shiver of delight—he wanted me as much as I did him. Creeping across the floor, my plan was to climb up onto the bed and crawl towards him, taking him by surprise. But, since my newborn vampire-hood seemed to have never begun in the first place, I could almost never surprise him in any regard, even though I may want to. Just as I’d crept to the edge of the bed, Richard turned around then, and his eyes widened at my costume.

“You look beautiful,” he tells me, and gets to his knees before me on the bed, and I move to follow suit. “Amazing...” He whispers, running his hands up and down my arms. “Mine,” he tells me, moving my hair away from my shoulder and nibbling at it.

I throw my arms around him, tucking my head beside his neck. “Yours...” I whisper in a moment of passion to him, encircling my arms around his torso. “Mine,” I say, running my fingers across his chest.

“Yours,” he assures me. “Forever.”

“Forever,” I say, raising my eyes to his, and he covers his lips with mine.

. . .

The flight back seemed shorter than the one down to Isle Esme, and the two weeks of our trip seemed to fly quickly by. I’d manipulated the weather on our return journey to be overcast, yet I couldn’t seem to do anything about the humidity. We reached the small marina and parked the boat efficiently, our hired car waiting for us. The gentleman helped us load our luggage into the back and we had a leisurely ride back to the airport, looking out at the city and the passerby as we went.

We reached the airport, our plane waiting for us upon the runway, and Richard and our driver handled our baggage. As I sat there in the car, I remembered Bella telling me how she’d called Rosalie and asked her to help protect her from Edward’s determination for her to terminate her pregnancy. I wondered then what it would have been like to carry a baby, and knew now that it was something that I could not do. I’d often considered having a child to raise, and recalled when, at eleven, when the abuse with Andy went full throttle, and, at just fourteen, the news that I was pregnant shocked my mother.

We never discussed it, and when I gave birth—weeks before my mother, I now know, was due to have Sarah—I gave the child up for adoption. All I was permitted to do was merely glance at her, before she was handed off to the adoptive couple, childless friends of Andy’s from the entertainment industry. I’d met with them on a few occasions and they’d seemed friendly enough, and I’d asked them to have the name Henrietta somewhere within my daughter’s name, as it was the most beautiful name I could come up with when I was barely fifteen years old. They assured me they would and took her away, and I never saw or heard from them again.

“Ready?”

I turn and see my beautiful husband, leaning in through the open car door. “Yeah.” I slip my carry-on bag over my arm and slip out of the car, leaning into him as he puts his arm around my waist. We walk up the steps of the plane, and I see our luggage being loaded into its base as we head inside and find our assigned seats.

“I may have bribed the airline for all of first-class,” Richard tells me.

I turn and look at him. “What are you saying?”

He puts his lips to my ear. “I’m saying that it is a small flight to Seattle today, and that not many businessmen and women will be disappointed.”

I cup his chin in my hand. “You’re amazing,” I say, leaning in to kiss him. We decline the champagne and in-flight meals again, instead opting to pick a few films to watch during the many hours in the air instead. After the coach section fills up, the doors are closed and locked as we make our way towards the location where we can legally get into the air. As we get into position to do so, I turn to Richard. “I have to tell you something.”

“What?”

I lower my eyes. “Remember what Andy did?”

He stiffens. “Of course,” he replies, tightening his grip upon me.

“It began when I was eight—the sexual abuse,” I say, verbalizing it for the very first time. “I was fourteen when it reached a new development.”

“A new development?” Richard asks, his lips barely moving, so, to any humans walking by, it wouldn’t seem as if we were having a conversation at all. “Beth...?”

I nod. “Yes. Yes, Andy got me pregnant.”

Richard clenches his fist and slams it against his seats’ arm. “What happened?”

“Gave her up for adoption.”

“Her? It was a girl?”

I nod a second time. “Yes. All I know is that they supposedly called her ‘Henrietta’. Their last name was Collins, and their first names were Martin and Josephine. That’s all I know, really—I was only fourteen.”

Richard immediately throws his arms around me. “I’m so sorry,” he whispers, tightening his grip upon me then. “We’ll find her. We’ll ask Jasper to speak to J. Jenks—”

“No.” My voice is firm. “They told me to write her a letter, and they’d give it to her on her eighteenth birthday. If she really wants me, then great. If not...” I shrug. “I know Edward will know about it, and maybe Alice, but I’m going to block this conversation from them ever having access to it. It’s still difficult for me, and I don’t want them to pity me.”

“I could tell them to not...”

I shake my head, cupping his cheek. “Richard, please. Don’t.”

He nods. “If you’re sure...”

“I am.”

Richard nods, dropping the subject and simply holding onto me for the duration of the flight time. We land safely in Seattle a few hours later, and get off the plane rather quickly, due to being the only ones in first class. We make our way to baggage claim, finding our things without incident and making our way with one of those carts to the proper parking lot, which Richard still had a ticket for. We managed to find his car through the mazes of tunnels and such and loaded our things in the trunk and, while I pulled the car around, I peeked and noticed Richard returning the cart to the parking lot kiosk. We then swapped seats and I settled into the passenger seat as we made our way out of the parking lot and towards the freeway.

It was about nine o’clock in the morning, so Richard and I projected being home before noon, due to our ability to drive faster as vampires without much detection. We’d decided to go the Tacoma way on the freeway, to avoid any more humans. We’d fed the night before we were due to leave Isle Esme, and had seen Senna and Zafrina many more times before leaving South America, and had promised to give their best to Carlisle, although we thought that Alice would have been able to tell him for us.

“Okay?” Richard asked as we’d gotten safely through Olympia.

I nod. “Fine.”

“You know, if you change your mind and want to ask Jasper to contact J. Jenks about Henrietta, I won’t blame you.”

I reach between our seats and take his hand. “I know you won’t blame me, Richard, because you are a wonderful man who is considerate above all things.”

“Well, hopefully not above _all_ things,” he replies.

I try and fail not to giggle. “I think you proved just how considerate you are on our honeymoon, Mr. Cullen,” I say softly.

He grips my hand tightly. “I’m serious, Beth. If you want to find her...”

I shake my head. “I’ll let her find me. Eighteen years? Can’t be far...”

“The years get shorter as you go on,” he replies, “although sometimes I find myself thinking about my childhood in New York.”

“Do you remember much about it?” I ask him.

He sighs. “I remember my mother being pregnant,” he replies, “but, looking back on it, with my father never being home...”

My eyebrows knit together. “Are you saying that you think your mother had an affair?” I question him.

Richard shrugs. “She could have.”

“Would you have held it against her?”

“Knowing my father, probably not.”

I purse my lips, staring at the rainstorm through the windshield and making no efforts to do away with it. “Any suspicions on who your mother would have had an affair with?” I ask, in a moment of genuine curiosity.

“My uncle—my father’s younger brother,” he replies. “My mother cared a lot about him, and his job kept him in town.”

“What did he do?” I want to know.

“He had his own schoolhouse in the center of town,” Richard tells me. “I was named after him, and he was a wonderful man. I remember after my mother died, he attended the funeral...” He shakes his head.

I grip his hand. “What happened?” I ask him.

Due to Richard’s fast driving, we’ve entered McCleary, a city between Olympia and Aberdeen. On the edge of the Capitol State Forest, Richard pulls off the road, and we are enclosed in some trees. My husband gets out of the car and leaves the door open, walking away, and I rush to follow him.

“Richard?”

He climbs up a hill without difficulty and I rush to follow him, finding myself shaky in this unfamiliar terrain. He faces away from me, looking out at the impressive expansion of trees which surround us, even from this great height. “He came to the funeral, and asked my father to speak to him privately,” he replies.

I step forward. “Did he?”

“Yes. For years, I told people that I simply recall my mother dying remaining in New York, but that’s not what happened.”

“What did happen, Richard?”

“I stayed until after she died... I was with her when she had my small sister and... She was dead when she came out.”

“Stillborn?” I said softly.

“She was, yes. Stillborn, not one breath taken. I remember our maid stripping the sheets from my mother’s bed and handing them to me—I think she was in a state of shock. She told me to go outside to our backyard and to burn them, and then to wash in hot water so as I didn’t smell of death. I remember watching her bundle the body of my tiny sister into a sheet and passing it off to one of our workers and telling him to dispose of it. Then she cleaned up Mother as best she could before the coroner came...”

“The funeral?” I ask.

“Yes, yes, the funeral. My uncle asked to see my father alone and I followed them, unseen, into the house—we lived just down the road from the church. He said he knew of my father’s plans to marry again and I remembered wanting to scream at him... ‘How could you even consider something like that when Mother has only just died?’ but of course I said nothing of the kind. I remember her name was Miss Margaret White and that she was the daughter of a local doctor—she was only a few years older than I was.”

“What happened, Richard?”

“He told my father the truth—that he and my mother had been sharing each other’s bed for years now, whenever he’d left town. He said that I was his and that he wanted me to come and live with him, but my father refused, saying that I was his son and he was the one who belonged in a grave to slander his wife like that... There was a scuffle,” Richard tells me before I can ask. “They raged at one another before anyone could intervene. My father got his pistol and shot my uncle, and was in such hysterics that he did not see me slip from the house, a witness to his crime. I called the constable myself and showed him what my father had done. They committed him that very day, for of course any man who had just lost his wife had to be insane, especially when my testimony had been given...”

“Is that all?”

“No. No, I was sent to live with my aunt immediately thereafter, for people thought my mother’s family wouldn’t be tainted...”

“So, your father was alive when you were changed?”

“Yes.”

“But why did he not come forward and offer to help with your medical care?”

“Because my uncle was right,” Richard says.

“Right?” I demand then, confused. “About what?”

My husband turns to face me. “My uncle was my biological father. Like Edward, I pretend to be a new heir to my family every so often so as I never run out of the fortune. Since my father never could have a child—the medical experts pronounced him sterile—I became curious. In the early 1990’s after I graduated from college about DNA testing, so I looked into it and paid off a hospital to get in touch with a coroner’s office, who exhumed the man I believed to be my father, John Kingsley. The DNA test proved it, that while I am a Kingsley by birth, John Kingsley is not my father, but my uncle.”

“You had them exhume your uncle’s body?”

“Yes, that proved more difficult to find, given the fact that he was buried in the late 1920’s versus when my father died, in the early 1960’s.”

“So, you are the son of the younger Kingsley son?” I ask.

“Yes. Too bad we were never able to publicly acknowledge it.”

“You think he knew?” I ask, approaching him and leaning against his shoulder. “Do you think your uncle knew that he was your biological father?”

“I like to think so,” Richard replies, turning and embracing me. “I know he would have loved you, and Sarah, and the boys, very much.”

“That’s kind of you, Richard, really.”

He tightens his grip upon me then, and, for the first time, I feel a glimmer of hope for the future. “Promise me something?”

“What?”

“If Henrietta doesn’t contact you until she’s eighteen, give it until she’s twenty-one, and then contact her, okay?”

“Richard...”

“Promise me Beth.”

I sigh. “I promise, I will contact Henrietta by the time she’s twenty-one if she doesn’t contact me by the time she’s eighteen.”

“Thank you. I just don’t want you missing out on anything.”

“What? Like humanity?”

“Like reality,” he replies.

I giggle. “_Nothing_ about this is real, Richard. We’re unreal.”

“Undead,” he clarifies.

“Same difference.”

He chuckles, covering his lips with mine. “Home?” he asks.

_For a few more weeks, anyway_, I think to myself. “Home,” I reply.


	12. The Fugitives

Richard and I made good progress on the drive back and were home within the hour. As we drove up the lane, the trees parting so as we could get there efficiently, and I felt relief as we got up the drive and parked close to the house. We’d decided to leave the unpacking until later, and to just catch up with everybody to begin with. I got my shoulder bag, plus the one from the back seat filled with souvenirs for everyone, and Richard walked around the back of the car and pulled me out from there, kissing me on the lips.

“Ready?” he asks.

I nod. “More than,” I reply.

He puts his arm around my waist and we lock the car, walking up to the house and noticing that the flowers Esme had planted in the summer were just beginning to fade now that fall was just around the corner. Richard loosened his grip upon me so as I could push open the door and, as we stepped inside, I heard Alice’s frantic words.

“They’ll be home any minute...”

“Alice, calm down.” Jasper’s voice.

“Everything’s going to be fine,” Esme assures them.

“Is that all you saw?” Carlisle presses.

“Please,” comes Rosalie’s voice, “we need to know everything.”

“Yeah,” Emmett says, “don’t like being kept in the balance like this.”

“Be patient with her,” Bella interrupts him.

“Yes, there’s always time,” Edward says.

Richard and I get up the stairs quickly, and our whole family turns to look at us. I look from one face to the next, but I can’t figure out what’s going on. I step forward, relieved when Richard doesn’t hold me back, and face Alice.

“Alice, what’s wrong?” I ask her.

“I saw Aro talking about you,” she replies, her voice shaking.

“Aro?” I demand, at once on my guard. “What does he want?”

“Well, he was talking about how he wants you to come and join his guard,” she said, her eyes wide with worry.

I shake my head. “I still don’t get it. What would Aro be doing wandering around Forks looking for me? It doesn’t make sense.”

Alice sighs. “Yes. Yes, it does...”

“Alice,” Jasper warns.

“No, I have to tell her,” Alice protests.

“Tell me what?” I cry, beginning to tense with fear.

Alice lock her golden eyes with my amber ones. “Ever since the Volturi believed that Renesmee was an immortal child, Aro has been sending for me once a year. I must allow him to look into my memories once per year, as well as mine and everyone else’s future. In the months leading up to your arrival back in Forks, I saw you. I saw you moving to Forks and told Edward and Bella about you, but...” She shrugs. “I guess they didn’t make the connection until it was too late.”

“I knew,” Bella replies, shrugging her shoulders. “I knew, but I couldn’t stop it. After all the things Alice told me about your background, Beth, I just...”

“You felt sorry for me?” I say, my voice emotionless.

“Of course,” Bella replies, instantly. “But I also wanted to help you. I know what it’s like being the new girl in Forks. When I heard that you liked hiking...”

“We never talked about hiking,” I say, turning to look at her. “I’m sure I’d remember telling you about that.”

“I heard about it from my dad,” she replies. “Remember? Our dads are practically best friends. When your dad mentioned once—when Edward and I were over at my dad’s, and he was there too—I suggested some places for you to walk...”

I lean up against Richard, my rock. “I told my dad in the days before me moving up here that I liked to hike,” I reply quietly. “He must’ve mentioned it to your dad, and you heard all about it.”

“Exactly,” Bella says, “so once I knew where’d you be hiking, I sort of watched the area—and smelled the area—for when you’d be there. Didn’t take much for Edward to want to go to our meadow,” she said, lowering her eyes.

“So, you knew I’d be there?”

Bella nods. “Yes. I took my shield down, too, so...”

“I knew, too,” Edward said, turning to look at Carlisle. “I’m sorry. But after everything that Beth had gone through, she needed another chance.”

“She would have graduated in a year, Edward,” Esme admonishes.

“With her transcripts, she could have gone to Oxford if she’d wanted. Plus, she would have been able to cut all ties with her family, had she been given the choice, within a month after she’d graduated. With an Oxford education, she could’ve gotten a job anywhere, and you took that away from her,” Carlisle says sternly.

Edward sighs. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m not.” My voice causes everyone to turn their faces towards mine. “What? No point in lying now, so I’ll say it: I’m not sorry. I’m happy in my newfound life. Really. Besides,” I say quietly, “I talk in my sleep, so I probably asked for it anyway.”

“She does talk in her sleep,” Bella says quietly. “I heard her on the drive from the airport. I heard her say that it was sad how beautiful Edward and I could be.”

“But it wasn’t shallow,” Edward said quickly, “it was sadness. She was sad that we’d found each other and she firmly believed herself to be unlovable.”

“From the abuse,” Esme reasoned, turning to look at me. “I’m sorry, Beth.”

I smile and move from Richard’s side, wrapping my arms around Esme in a quick motion. “I am so thankful for you—for all of you. You’ve been more of a mother to me than my own mother ever was, and that’s saying a lot.”

Esme cups my face. “You’re lovable,” she assures me.

I smile at her. “I know that now. From you, from Carlisle, from Richard, from Edward, from Bella... From all of you. Not to bring up a sensitive subject, but I think that’s why I was unable to reciprocate Embry’s feelings when he had them for me.”

“Because you believed you were unlovable?” Richard asks.

“That day... That day Emmett was driving over the speed limit beside Bella’s father’s house on that rainy afternoon,” Jasper says. “I remember we almost killed her. I remember her face, and I know now that it was Beth when she was still human. I remember feeling her emotions—it’s an automatic thing, to figure someone out when you haven’t met or seen them before—and I felt your sadness, Beth. It was a pure sadness, and nothing like I’d ever experienced before.”

“Never?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “No. Not even when I was ordered to execute newborns under Maria’s orders did I feel such sadness. That was selfish sadness but yours... Yours was beyond your control. You were put in a dangerous environment and you didn’t know of a way out of it and in that moment, you were just going through motions of your day-to-day life. No outward feelings...”

“She was bottling them up?” Rosalie asks.

“She was, yes. But now, she feels she is in a safe environment and now she feels that she can express them safely,” Jasper says.

“Aro read into my future and saw that Beth would come into our lives,” Alice says quietly in the lull that follows Jasper’s declaration. “He knew how powerful she would be, and he sought to create her himself, but only go through half of it.”

“What do you mean?” I ask her. “Was he feeling lazy?”

“No,” Alice replies. “He knew that if he did it completely, then you would immediately go after humans in the area and that the wolves would kill you. He couldn’t have that; he had to only do half the work so that Carlisle would think it was a rogue vampire. Due to Carlisle smelling all the blood when Rosalie was attacked, Aro was sure that Carlisle would find you—that we all would find you. And now, he’s going to come here, or force you to go to him.”

“So, I have a choice,” I say softly. “To join his guard or be killed, right?”

Alice sighs. “Maybe...”

“No.” Richard’s voice is firm as he zooms to my side. “If you join them, I join them. If you die, I die.”

“Richard...”

“No.” His voice is the firmest I’ve ever heard him utter. “I can’t live without you, just liked Bella can’t live without Edward, Carlisle can’t live without Esme, Alice can’t live without Jasper, and Rosalie can’t live without Emmett.” He takes ahold of my hands. “If you want to join them or be killed, then I’m behind you, Beth.”

“No, you’re not,” I tell him. “The kids need their father. It’s not just me anymore...”

“You are my life,” he says, clutching onto me. “I love you.”

I turn and look at Rosalie, knowing exactly what to say. “Rose, I’m going to Italy. I’m going to hand over myself to Aro and to face certain death, because I’d rather die than join him or his guard. I’m not a puppet; I want to live my own life, and if I can’t, then I’ll face Jane’s pain or Alec’s smoke of nothingness. Before I go, Jasper,” I say, turning to him, “I’ll need you to call J. Jenks and have you draw up my will. I want it stated in writing that sole custody of Sarah, Lucas, and Francis is going to Rosalie and Emmett. Is that clear?”

“Beth!” cries Rosalie, obviously distraught.

I turn and smile at her. “You always wanted children, Rosalie, and now is your chance. I don’t want any of you to worry—I’m happy to die...”

“No, Beth!” Rosalie says, shaking her head. “You can block abilities!”

I blink, suddenly remembering my conversation with Eleazar, seemingly so long ago now, that even I’d forgotten. “But even if...”

“And Richard’s got that memory eraser thing,” Emmett puts in. “What if we just erase Aro’s idea to do this whole thing with Alice in the first place?”

I turn to Alice. “Did Aro see this coming?” I ask her.

She shakes her head. “No,” she says, sounding surprised herself, “because when I had the visions of you, it was before Richard had joined our family. Then, when I showed him again, you’d just begun dating. Now that he’s married to you...” She shrugs. “Anything can happen but you’d need protection in Italy.”

“I’ll go,” Bella says instantly. “You need mental protection. I know you can do it for yourself, Beth, but my shield is stronger. Don’t worry—you’ll get there.”

I smile. “Thanks, Bella.”

“I’ll go,” Edward says. “We need to know if Aro is even thinking of us attempting to get into his mind at all.”

“Means a lot to me, Edward,” I tell him.

“I’ll go,” Jasper says. “We need to make sure that Aro—and all the other Volturi—is kept calm at all costs.”

I smile at Jasper. “Thanks.”

“I’ll go,” Alice says. “We need to know if there are new developments to the future at a moments’ notice.”

“Good thinking, Alice,” I say.

“I’ll go,” Rosalie says. “Maybe my enhanced beauty doesn’t work on you, but it works on plenty of members of the guard.”

“Nice thinking, Rosalie,” I tell her.

“I’ll go,” Emmett says. “If this comes to a fight, you’ll need me as a bodyguard.”

“You’re not wrong,” I say with a chuckle.

“I’ll go,” Carlisle says. “You may need a medical doctor—you never know.”

“You’re right,” I admit.

“I’ll go,” Esme says. “You can never go wrong with a motherly touch.”

I reach out and take her hand. “No, you can’t go wrong with it.”

“I’ll go,” Richard says. “I can walk through walls and silence everyone’s memories of seeing me coming.”

I smile at my husband. “If you’re sure...”

“I’m sure.”

“Okay,” I say, crossing my arms. “Looks like we’re all going to Italy.”

“I’ll call Karen to look after the kids for a few days,” Esme says, getting out her cell phone and walking downstairs.

“I’ll start packing for all of you,” Alice says, rushing upstairs.

“We’re going to hunt,” Emmett says, pulling Jasper, Edward, and Carlisle out the back kitchen door.

“I’ll check on the kids,” Rosalie says, heading upstairs after Alice.

I turn to Richard, and take his hands. “Well, that’s more than I ever wanted to know about myself and my personal history.”

Richard grins down at me. “Well, maybe it’ll help other people keep up.”

I shrug. “I don’t know... But what I do know is, I’m so not looking forward to another airplane trip. Won’t it look suspicious that we’re flying to Italy?”

“What makes you say that?”

“Well, what if airport security becomes convinced that we’re, I don’t know, drug dealers for the mafia or something?”

Richard laughs. “I doubt that. Maybe we’re just on a family reunion trip.”

I sigh, putting my head down against his chest. “After this is over, I think I may want to take a year off...”

Richard tilts my chin up. “You sure?”

I shake my head. “I’m not sure of anything anymore.”

. . .

We’re all on the next plane to Italy, and do most of the planning from the first-class section, which Carlisle booked for us in full. The flight was nearly twelve hours, and my anxiety grew as we crossed the ocean and closer to danger. I practiced keeping my shield up but, in so doing, cut myself off from Jasper’s emotion manipulation, so I had to keep feeling anxious despite myself. Even though I had Richard by my side to comfort me, it didn’t seem to do any good. Part of me felt as if I was going to Italy to die, and I did not want to die; I was not ready to die; I would never be ready to die.

I straightened in my seat when the pilot informed all of us that we were making our descent into Italy, and my heart yearned to just be an insignificant vampire tourist. But no; I was there to prove to Aro that, despite creating me, he was not in control of my life. My life was mine, and I would not willingly hand it over to him, even though, because of him, I now had these exceptional abilities. Biting my lip as we landed in Pisa—the closest airport to Volterra, at just over an hour away. I gripped Richard’s hand as we all of us got off the plane and crossed my fingers that our plan would ultimately work.

After grabbing our luggage from baggage claim, we went to the car rental establishment where Carlisle had called ahead for a 2013 Chevrolet Suburban, which would, thankfully, accommodate all of us and our luggage. After Carlisle, Emmett, Jasper, Richard, and Edward put the luggage in the trunk, Carlisle and Esme took the front seats, while Rosalie and Emmett sat in the first sets, Alice and Jasper took the second, and Bella, Edward, Richard, and I piled into the four-seater back. I had the first seat in, with Richard and Edward in the center, and Bella on the other end; I kept to myself during the drive, barely looking at the Italian landscape as we drove closer and closer to the city.

Once we’d arrived, Carlisle parked close by the entrance of the Volturi’s castle, and we all managed to pile out of the car in one piece. We’d perfected the plan to a T; Carlisle and Esme would go inside and request an audience with Aro, thus gaining access due to Carlisle’s long-standing friendship with Aro. Next, Rosalie would use her beauty to entice the guards, while Emmett would beat anyone up who got in our way. Edward, Jasper, and Bella would follow, Edward reading the minds of the potentially dangerous ones, while Jasper would manipulate their emotions accordingly, and Bella would shield them, and Carlisle and Esme once their first task was done. Alice would be staying behind with me, telling me of the progress, while Richard would sneak in last and obliterate all memories Aro had of ordering Alice to give him her memories of past, present, and future, while I would stay a safe distance away.

With everyone’s task presented, Carlisle and Esme headed inside, and Rosalie and Emmett waited for Alice to tell them to move. It came a few moment later, and I watched as Jasper kept Alice calm, and Edward and Bella simply held each other, as Richard and I were doing. It was a moment of truth for our coven, and I knew that we had to pull this off just right, or there really would be two options for the rest of us—deemed valuable enough for Aro to keep—forever.

“Now,” Alice says, and kisses Jasper before he follows Edward and Bella inside the massive fortress that the Volturi call home.

“I’m scared,” I whisper to Richard as Alice concentrates.

“Don’t be. We’re all capable of pulling this off,” Richard assures me. “We’re all quite powerful in our own ways.” He cups my face. “Remember this, Beth, no matter what happens, I love you.”

“I love you,” I reply, standing on my toes and kissing him.

“Now, Richard,” Alice says, and, with a final kiss, my husband goes off into the fortress, leaving me alone with Alice.

“I’m sorry,” I tell her softly.

“You’re sorry? For what?” Alice asks.

I shrug. “I don’t know—everything. I’m sorry that I had to survive the transformation process because, if I hadn’t, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

Alice smiles, reaching out and taking my hand. “If you hadn’t survived the transformation, I wouldn’t have gained another sister.”

“You have two sisters,” I protest. “What’s one more?”

“I love Rosalie and Bella, of course, but they’re not you, Beth. And you’re an amazing sister, despite your lack of practice.”

“I have a sister,” I remind her.

“Yes, but now she’s your daughter,” she replies.

I nod. “Right,” I reply, now reminding myself I have something further to worry about. “I just want this to be over...”

Alice tenses then, and she shakes her head. “They’re onto us!” she cries, reaching out and gripping my hand. “Alec... His smoke! I think he’s gotten stronger!”

“Stronger?!” I demand, looking around. “How?!”

“He’s obliterating my vision! I can’t see!” Alice cries. “Beth, you’ve got to do something!”

Instantly, I focus all my energy and project my shield so that I can feel it enclosing around myself and Alice. “Better?” I ask.

She nods. “Yes... But we need to get in there. I can see inside, but not everyone,” she says, and locks her eyes to mine. “Something’s not right.”

I reach out and grip her hand. “Let’s go, then,” I say, and we take off inside. I quickly see that there are no guards about as we head underground, and Alice whispers that she saw Emmett taking care of them physically, while Jasper did so emotionally. As we near what Alice calls the throne room, I can hear Carlisle and Esme speaking, and then the peppy reply of an unknown vampire, yet so familiar.

“It’s so wonderful to have you here, Carlisle—and a surprise visit!”

“I figured it was about time,” Carlisle replies. “Esme said that she wanted to go to Europe again, so we figured, why not come to Italy to see our old friends?”

“Simply delightful,” Aro says, and Alice and I manage to peek in through the massive curtains, and dart in when he is distracted by Carlisle’s clothing. “A new shirt, Carlisle?” he asks, sounding genuinely curious.

“Yes. Esme picked it out,” Carlisle replies.

“Caius and Marcus are gone,” Alice barely whispers. “Seems as if they’ve been taken care of—they’re never not around Aro.”

Bella suddenly appears at our side. “Richard’s just going into position...”

“Something’s wrong,” Alice says firmly. “Beth, it’s on the other side of the thrones, but I can’t see it. Bella, shield me. Beth, go and investigate.”

I move to do so, walking silently along the stone wall, as Carlisle and Esme pretend not to look shocked at my presence. I lift a finger to my lips, diving behind the throne, and what I see next causes my jaw to drop. The being before me is clearly a vampire, and she smiles as she takes me in for the first time, before flitting behind a curtain, out of the room, and I rush to follow her.

“So nice to finally meet your better acquaintance, Elizabeth Cullen,” says the vampire in a coy tone of voice. She is blonde, platinum blonde, and her eyes are a bright red, a sharp contrast to her pale skin, the palest I’ve ever encountered on a female vampire. “Jacinda Volturi. How do you do?” she asks, and smiles; it’s almost as if her fangs have been expertly filed down to points.

“You’re the blind spot,” I say; I’m guessing, but she _was_ behind the thrones, and could conceivably been the blind spot to which Alice was referring.

She smiles. “I possess a great many talents,” she replies.

“Such as?” I ask her.

“Well, for starters, I’m a Mind Walker,” she replies easily. “I can mentally go into someone else’s mind and seemingly walk around their thoughts. Never with you, though, or that fellow brunette sister of yours—fairly closed off pair, aren’t you?”

I shrug. “It’s a talent,” I reply.

She laughs. “I also possess Remote Telepathy,” she continues.

“What?” I ask.

“No matter where you are in the world, I can communicate with you, but, again, not with you, as you’re so closed off. Pity; Aro would have wanted me to speak more with another of his creations.”

“He created you, then?” I ask her.

She nods. “Yes. I couldn’t pay off my student loans and I was studying here abroad. I knew that the Volturi were great, non-human beings...”

“How could you possibly know that?”

“I was getting a degree in mythology,” she replies, as if I am stupid. “That’s how I knew, you silly little girl.”

“My apologies,” I reply levelly. “But that can’t be all you do.”

“I have Metapathy,” she replies. Before I can ask, she says, “I can read, sense, communicate with, and control an infinite number of minds across all universes, planes, and dimensions,” she boasts proudly.

“Except mine.”

Jacinda looks hurt by this. “Yes. Except yours.”

“When were you created?” I ask her.

“Four years ago...”

“Which makes me the stronger one—and the one in control.”

Her eyes widen. “You have the advantage, but...”

Immediately, I take a pillar from the wall with my mind, sharpening it with my mind’s eye and manage to jam it directly into Jacinda’s heart. I smile then, walking towards her slowly and make my way over to her head. “You may have caused a blind spot for my sister, but you instilled fear in us as a family. And now, little Jacinda, you shall pay.” I take ahold of her head and, despite her protests, manage to yank it completely off her body. I grab a standing torch from a few feet away and burn her body quickly, and step away from there, shaking my head.

“Beth.”

I turn then and see Richard, shock in his face. “That was the blind spot.”

“What?”

I step forward. “Jacinda was the one behind everything, Richard. She was a Mind Walker and possessed Metapathy. She could invade our minds and control an infinite number of minds as she saw fit. Don’t you see?” I ask him, stepping forward. “Now we are free. Let’s go get the others and leave this place.”

Richard pulls me to him then and kisses me. “I’ve silenced Aro’s memories to his dealings with Alice, and the rest of the guards are subdued due to everyone’s help. We must hurry, however, Beth. If we don’t, we could be discovered. This way.” He leads me down a darkened hallway and we burst outside; seeing the sun, I quickly manipulate the clouds to form cloud cover, and we turn around the bend. Stopping just short of the turn, Richard lifts his hand towards the fortress, and quickly tells me that he’s obliterating all memories of the Volturi having known Jacinda, and having then merely think she is just a vampire who committed a treasonable act. Catching sight of everyone, we step forward, just as the doors open, and two small children come out.

I manage to grip Richard’s hand, positioning myself in front of him as the two children walk towards the rest of the Cullen’s, and as we ourselves step forward. Knowing instinctively that these must be Jane and Alec, I know I must keep on my guard. Nodding to Bella, we will be prepared at a moment’s notice to shield our family from their abilities.

“Aro heard you were here,” Jane says, and her eyes flash to me and to Richard, suddenly joining them. “Oh. Who do we have here?”

“No one,” I say, smiling at Jane and Alec, and squeezing Richard’s hand. Turning, I see my husband’s eyes narrowing ever so slightly, and Jane and Alec proceed to look confused, before turning around and walking back inside the fortress.

Quickly, we turn away then and make our way down the stone hill towards our rented car, ready to return it and to get out of Italy as soon as possible. As we walk, Jasper tells Carlisle that perhaps we should not speak or communicate with the Volturi for a considerable amount of time. I remember Jasper telling me that his own creator, Maria, was still alive but, due to their differences on how life should be lived, Jasper had told her to stay away. I thought that, perhaps, if we kept to our own sides of the globe, things would become easier for everyone in turn.

We drive back to the airport, not stopping for anything or anyone and return our car quickly and quietly as we’d gotten it. I think that we were all in shock, that our plan had worked; as we boarded the next available flight to Seattle—first-class again—I sat with Richard, resting my head upon his shoulder. I wanted to sleep, but I knew that even that was something that couldn’t be done. As we rose into the air, I took his hand and he turned to look at me.

“I don’t want to go to Oxford.”

Richard raises his eyebrows. “No?”

“No.” I shake my head. “I just want to be a mom and a wife right now. I mean, I know it was my dream, but I have a new dream.”

He smiles. “Really?”

I nod. “Yes. I love you, and the kids, more than anything. I almost lost everything I cared about today, and for what—a chance to live forever. That’s the whole point of this, Richard, we have forever. So, if we were to go to Oxford in a year or five years or fifty it wouldn’t make a difference to me. If you’re there with me, right by my side, because I can’t live without you, I can’t.”

Richard smiles. “You sure you won’t get tired of me?”

“Well, I know of a good lawyer if the going gets tough,” I reply, and we share a laugh between ourselves. “The point is, Oxford can wait. Now that we’re free from the notion that Aro will come after us...” I shrug. “Life is limitless.”

“I guess we should get a move on enrolling Sarah in school...”

“Rosalie will love having the kids around,” I say to him. “And, who knows? Maybe we will move out on our own one day. But for now, with that beautiful, sound-proofed bedroom that we have yet to use, I’m pretty happy.”

“It’s a little thing, Beth.”

“No,” I reply, shaking my head. “Given the way I was raised, being happy is everything. I went to bed at night feeling alone and afraid and I knew that, if I didn’t keep my feelings in check, then I had to worry about what came in the morning. Now, I don’t have to worry about a thing, because things are different. I have the man I love by my side, and three children who love me at home. That’s all I ever wanted.”

“And having us forever...”

“Having you forever,” I clarify. “Remember, we can’t tell the kids about our world under any circumstances. Unless they somehow know the information, and then we’ll have to turn them or kill them. It’s the law,” I say brokenly.

“Aren’t laws made to be broken?” Richard asks.

I shake my head. “Not this one.” I drop my head onto his shoulder, remaining silent for the rest of the flight. I wish again that sleep could happen, but it doesn’t, and I merely shut my eyes when darkness overtakes my airplane window. I barely am aware of it when the plane pilot tells us that we’re landing in Seattle, and I remember coming from LAX to Seattle to live with my dad, so long ago now...

. . .

_“Great reading,” says a voice like bells and, as I raise my eyes, make eye contact with a rather striking young couple. “I like Austen, too, but my favorite is _Wuthering Heights_. I hope you’ve read that one.”_

_I nod. “Yes. One of my favorites since I was twelve.”_

_The woman smiles and sits beside me. “Bella,” she says, putting out her hand._

_“Edward, the husband,” says the man beside her jokingly._

_I put out my hand. “Beth,” I tell them._

_“Which part are you at?” Bella wants to know._

_“The Netherfield Park ball,” I reply._

_“A classic scene,” Edward says admiringly._

_“Where are you going?” Bella questions politely._

_“Ultimately, Forks,” I say softly. “You’ve probably never heard of it—one of the smallest places on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State.”_

_“We’ve heard of it,” Edward tells me._

_“Why are you going there?” Bella wants to know._

_“My father, I’m moving in with him,” I tell her. “My mother’s boyfriend is this actor and he’s shooting in Tuscany of all places. I told my mom to stop feeling the need to stay with me and to go off and be with him. So, here I am, in LAX, waiting for my flight to Seattle, so that I can get to Forks, Washington.”_

_“What does your father do there?” Bella asks._

_“He’s the fire chief,” I reply._

_Bella raises her perfect eyebrows. “No way! My father is Charlie, the police chief. As luck would have it, they’re quite close. I know there’s the old stereotype of firemen and police officers being at odds with one another, but that isn’t the case. They’ve known each other for years. In fact, he’s my father’s closest friend in Forks.”_

_“Seriously?” I ask, shocked._

_She nods. “Yes. Chief Christopher Partridge. My in-laws and I know him well.”_

_“Quite well,” Edward puts in._

_Seeing that I’m still skeptical, Bella pulls out her Driver’s License. “We’re law families, after all,” she tells me, handing it over._

_On it is printed ISABELLA M. CULLEN, and I assume she’s taken Edward’s name, due to the police chief’s surname being Swan. “What does the ‘M’ stand for?” I ask, curious, as I quickly skim through the rest of her information as I hand it back to her._

_“Marie,” Edward answers for her._

_“We could give you a ride to town, if you want,” Bella says politely. “Edward kept his car at SeaTac.”_

_“Mind if I call my dad first?” I ask her._

_She smiles. “Not at all.”_

. . .

“Beth.”

I am summoned back to my vampire life as my husband gently pulls me up from my first-class seat on the airplane. We make our way off the plane and to baggage claim, collecting our luggage and heading to the parking lot. We each get into our respective vehicles and driving back to Forks in a manner most inconspicuous.

Arriving back, we’d decided not to tell the kids that we’d gone to Italy, and Karen had agreed to keep up the ruse of a family emergency. She said goodbye to all of us and soon was gone, just as Sarah bounded downstairs and jumped into my arms. She clamored on and on about how much she’d missed me and her father, and I found myself delighted to call this little girl mine.

“Do you like presents, Sarah?” I asked her.

At once, her eyes light up. “Yes, Mama.”

I set her down and reach into the bag of gifts, neglected on a couch by the window. I produce a lovely new little dress for her, and she squeals at the leopard print. It has no sleeves and a pink ribbon around the waist, and Alice quickly grabs the camera and takes some shots of our daughter.

Next, Rosalie’s gift of a lovely piece of South American jewelry, which is a lovely diadem that I saw in an antique store. Rosalie’s eyes widen as she tries it on, and even Emmett looks impressed with it.

For Emmett, we got one of those elaborately painted skulls, which we’d bought off a little street vendor in one of the towns we’d visited.

For Jasper, a hand-woven messenger bag which he’d promise to use whenever he had an important assignment which required paperwork.

For Alice, a sumptuous beaded hat which she surprisingly loved and proceeded to parade around with it with Rosalie.

For Esme, a trio of vases with ornate designs on all of them, and she was so taken with them and decided to pot flowers in all three of them straightaway.

For Carlisle, a South American chess set, which was much more colorful than the classic one he had, and I knew that it would mainly serve as a decoration piece, but he seemed to be touched by the gift.

For Edward, a small decorative statue that was rumored to be of a Rice God; I’d loved the seriousness of the little stone piece, and it had reminded me of my brother so well that I had to buy it for him.

And for Bella, a copy of _The Merchant of Venice_; even though it was not my book to return, I’d asked Edward if Bella missed the book and got it for her on his say-so.

Since it was late, Sarah was due for her bedtime story, and I took her hand and lead her up the stairs and into her bedroom. I instructed her to change for bed, and she did so willingly, and I found it was much easier when she did things freely. I took a book from her shelf and read it to her, before switching off her main light and leaving her bedside table lamp on, and watched her for a moment.

“Mama?”

“Yeah, honey?” I ask her.

She opens her wide eyes to me. “Are we going away again?”

I smile and shake my head at her. “No, honey. Daddy and I talked it over, and with Grandpa and Grandma, and all your aunts and uncles, and it’s been decided that we’re all going to live here for a while.”

“No college?”

I lean down and kiss her forehead. “Not for a while, honey, no.”

“Why?”

“Well, that’s a complicated conversation.”

“Is it because you like being home?”

I find myself smiling again. “That’s one of the reasons, yes.”

“What’s another reason?”

“Well, another reason is I love being your mom, and Lucas’s mom, and Francis’s mom so much that I want more time with you.”

“Aunt Rosalie has helped you a lot,” Sarah says.

I nod. “Yes, she has.”

“Do you want her to keep helping you?”

“Do you like it when she plays with you?” I ask.

Sarah nods. “Yes. She’s nice. She lets me be the princess.”

I lean down and kiss her forehead again. “You are a princess, sweetheart. But right now, it’s very late, and even princesses need their sleep.”

“Okay, Mama. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, sweetheart,” I say, walking over to the door.

“Mama?”

“Yes?” I ask, turning around.

“I love you,” she says, smiling at me.

I smile back at my daughter. “I love you, too, sweetheart. See you in the morning,” I say, turning off her main light and shutting the door.


End file.
